He's a beautiful disaster
by damnationSUSHItruck
Summary: Oh, and I don't know. I don't know what he's after with his scissors. But he's so beautiful, this boy with red hair. Such a beautiful disaster. Akashi Seijuro x OC
1. Chapter 1

'**You're like this ugly yokai.**'

She clenched her fists. She didn't realize it but her whole body was trembling. She was thankful that the room was relatively dark so that her hair managed to veil her eyes as she glared at him at the other side of the desk.

'I really don't like people like you. I hate everything about your mindset, and yet those idiots persist on labeling us siblings. You think you've got everyone under your thumb, but that's just arrogance. You can't control everybody. You can't predict everything.

'You think you're perfect. _Absolute_, was it? But there's this flaw you have that's dead ahead of you that you can't even see. That's just how pathetic you really are. You're only human. You're no different from me or the rest of us.'

His fingers remained clutching the single shogi piece. His hand was in mid-motion.

_Snip, snippity, __**snip**_.

* * *

_Blowing from the west_

_Fallen leaves gather_

_In the East._

_- Buson_

Ashikaga Shinako lugged her two large school bags behind her as she made her way towards the several large pin-boards against the entrance of the school building. It was the beginning of the last term of her first year.

She skimmed through the heavily-printed charts until her eyes had fallen upon her name: _Ashikaga S, class 1 B, grade aggregate 97%._

And there it was again. The name - without a doubt - that once again hovered above hers: _Akashi S, class 1 A, grade aggregate 100%_.

It bothered her in the slightest... Only in the slightest though. She never allowed her term academic aggregate to bother her. She didn't care about her top position in the grade. All she cared about was passing well. 100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95... As long as she passed well, she was content.

But this Akashi S...

'Ah, check it out, guys...' a group of students gathered in front of her only a foot away from the boards.

'Yeah, those two again... I'm not surprised.'

'The siblings, man, I'm so jealous. They should at least give us normal kids a chance.'

'_Ashikaga S_, _class 1 B_... Ah, Shinako-san?'

Their conversation piqued her interest slightly... Only in the slightest though. _Siblings?_ Their words didn't surprise her. It wasn't long ago when a classmate of hers approached her about the subject.

_'Shinako-san, you really don't know who Akashi is?' _

_She didn't know why she needed to anyway. Her blank expression spoke a thousand words about her feelings towards the matter, and her classmate gasped dramatically. 'Shinako-san! He's your rival and you know nothing about him! You two even look so similar, I must say I'm surprised he doesn't interest you in the least.'_

_Shinako harrumphed. 'His existence does not concern me.'_

'Yeah, I swear they're related. Same red hair, and their eye colour is almost the same too.'

'Ah, don't lie, Shinako-san's eyes are yellow.'

'Yeah, but Akashi has two different eye colours, _baka_. They could totally pass as twins. Plus they're freaking geniuses. Just look at this board. It's been the same since the beginning of the year, and it's already almost winter.'

'Whoa, now that you mention it, even their names...'

Shinako hadn't stayed to listen to anymore. If she heard the name _Akashi_ just once more, she was certain she would have fallen ill.

The day had gone by relatively ordinary. She had completed most of her homework in the single free lesson for the day, and made notes as fast as you can say _Bob's your uncle_. She was skilled at speed-working. She noticed this ever since her granddad pointed it out to her when he had at one stage in her middle school requested her help in transferring his haiku notes to a new journal he bought. Ever since then, she had utilized this skill and applied it to her school work. And without fail, it called upon academic success.

'Meet me in the library as soon as you're done here, Riko,' Shinako called behind her at the end of their afternoon registration.

Riko - a fellow classmate of hers - nodded and turned back to the conversation she held with her group of friends. Shinako wondered if she heard her, but decided against repeating herself and took off to the art room. It was still relatively early in the afternoon, and visiting the art club at this time of the day was ritual for her.

She slid open the classroom door and closed it behind her, making her way to the first desk in the front row. She had found the unruly clutter of the club across from theirs a horrid distraction whenever she worked at the back, not to mention the eyes her lone presence in the room would attract. She never really bothered to find out what club it was either. They uninterested her with their noise and unusual times of meeting, and _boy_, were there a lot of students in that club.

She turned her attention to the unzipped canvas in front of her. She laid out her equipment on the desk and placed the fine brush between her index and middle finger, creating long, fine strokes against the canvas above her light pencil sketches. Thick brushstrokes complimented the fine lines of the Japanese plum tree's outstretched arms.

_The pear tree is in blossom._

_In the moonlight_

_A woman reads a letter_

The haiku by Buson was what had inspired the piece. It was during a late afternoon in her grandfather's condo when she sat on the raised deck of the exterior corridor of the home, watching the flowers in the wind. Her grandfather joined her not long after with his journal of short Japanese poems and read them to her.

Art was this thing that made her lose track of time. It was often when she worked on a piece intently that she would not realize she'd been locked in her room for over 3 hours straight.

Shinako quickly glanced at her phone and breathed out with relief when she noticed only fifteen minutes had passed. She packed her equipment; leaving only the canvas on the easel; and lugged her more important schoolbag over her shoulder as she closed the art room door behind her and made way to the library.

She messaged Riko, hoping she would already be waiting for her, and continued up the staircase. She entered the cold blanket of silence in the library, steadying her breathing as she greeted the teacher in charge and set down her bag at the entrance. There was no sign of Riko's belongings. Shinako never liked unreliable comrades. It was probably the reason why she made it a point never to get close to people.

_Friends are disposable. They should all just remain that way_, she thought, walking further down the library aisle. English was never exactly a subject she was strong in, but nonetheless, she gave it her best shot and grew fond of the language. Considering the grade was given the task of compiling a booklet about the history of English literature that was due in three days time, the class groaned as soon as the teacher handed out the criteria. Shinako, of course, wasn't bothered in the least by this. In fact, she viewed the ordeal with nonchalance. The quicker she could complete the team assignment, the better... But of course, without Riko - her partner - she was unsure whether or not to begin the assignment.

She glanced at the row of encyclopaedias and other helpful books with unease. She checked her cell phone. There was a reply from Riko: '_sorry, but I'll be a bit late will be at PC 15 though, so we can use the LAN_'.

The disappointment hadn't bothered her. In fact she felt relieved that she could finally begin researching. She gathered a few books she assumed would aid her in her research and sat at a vacant computer stall. The machine grumbled to life and she signed into the local chat, networking with PC 15. It had been a while since she received Riko's reply. She glanced back at the library entrance and spotted her classmate's bag.

_Rakuzan_11 has signed in_

_Rakuzan_11 says: Hey. 16.34_

_So I found some reliable sources. _

Shinako glanced at the books beside her on the desk and listed them.

_You should check them out. We can split the books. 16.37_

She was irritated slightly by Riko's inability to reply on time to the messages... Irritated only in the slightest, though. She turned her attention to the books and skimmed through a few pages, before returning her attention to the one-sided chat box on the screen.

_Riko. Respond. 16. 43_

_The library is quiet._

_That sounds like a good way to start a haiku poem. _

_I'm quite tired. 16.47 _

_Reply. It's common courtesy._

_Say something. 16.49_

_At lest. 16.50_

She sighed, closing the books as she stacked them neatly above one another and shoved her stationery into her pencil case. She was about to log off the chat when she noticed a new message on the screen.

_Rakuzan_15 says: least**. 16.51 _

... _Okay..._ She frowned at the screen, logging off without responding to that last message and gathered her things. Well wasn't Riko certainly acting odd.

She was about to stand from her seat when she looked up at the sound of clatter beside her. Riko skipped from the library entrance toward her, huffing as if she'd run a race just moments before, and she bowed.

'I'm sorry for being so late, Shinako-san...!' she whispered, quickly standing up straight again.

Shinako's eyes widened as Riko explained her story about being caught out by the library teacher for not returning some books from last term. 'I tried to message you, but the teacher kept seeing me trying to get my phone out, and that just made things even worse... Um... Shinako-san, are you okay?'

_Then who was at PC 15?_

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello minna-san! ^.^ It's been a while since I've gotten down to some serious fan-fiction writing, but after reading some Akashi fanfics, I couldn't help but be immensely inspired by them. Hence, the birth of this story! It's my first posted KnB fanfic, so please treat me kindly. _

_**Feedback **__is awesome, and you are awesome for reviewing/fav'ing/following this story!_


	2. Chapter 2

The redhead hadn't bothered with the details of that event. Even though she had investigated thereafter the ghost behind PC 15 of the library, the moment she returned to catch the culprit red-handed, there was no one present to take the blame.

Hence, she brushed aside the ordeal and instead focused on the English assignment she and Riko were about to hand in. It had taken them two days to compose it, and handing in the assignment on the given day had almost given rise to the Ashikaga's heart rate.

'You're too rigid, Shinako-san,' Riko commented after they had handed in their assignment.

Shinako harrumphed as she packed her books away. 'I don't need to hear that from you.'

It was later into the school day when the orange sun had - like a lazy balloon in the air - touched the earth. Shinako continued working on the piece she had the other day abandoned in the classroom. It had taken her those two days of working on the English assignment to collect her creative thoughts.

_Tangling a willow_

_And untangling,_

_The wind blows._

The haiku by Chiyojo plagued her thoughts ever since this morning when her grandfather had mentioned it to her. It applied to the tree she worked with. She dipped the large brush into the black paint, testing the strokes on a stray piece of paper, and raised her hand. Her strokes usually required the utmost concentration. She breathed out, breathed in as her hand leaned closer toward the canvas and instantaneously tensed at the shrill vibration of her cell phone on the desk behind her. The paintbrush clattered to the floor. The brush - thankfully - landed with a dry _splat_ on the brown paper she placed beneath the canvas on the floor.

She reached behind her and grabbed the phone. It was a message from her grandfather that read:

_I thought those birds_

_Were leaves_

_In the winter moonlight._

_- Chiyojo _

She read the haiku a few times over. Her grandfather had this incredible ability to choose one poem out of a hundred that would inspire her greatly. And yet again, that's exactly what he did. She smiled, lifted her brush from the floor and turned again to retrieve her glasses. She never usually wore spectacles, but this happened to be a rare occasion where she needed them.

And there it was. A person, attired in the gray school uniform, standing on the other side of the classroom door, watching.

A cold chill went down her spine. She couldn't make out any particular features on the student's face. She decided to ignore them and turned, continuing her work. _Weird,_ she mused, holding up her brush an inch away from the canvas and she stopped. She felt odd working under the watchful eye of a complete stranger, but contained her panic. Instead she simply stared at the canvas, complete with only a stretching plum tree, that in winter, bore no flowers. Thanks to her grandfather's message, she now managed to look at the image in a new light.

A plum tree in winter overlooking the surface of a lake where leaves and birds floated.

He watched her from the other side of the classroom door as she kept the brush between her fingers numbly. She didn't seem intent on continuing with the piece when she noticed him, and her reaction - only in the slightest bit - amused him. It was not long after however when he lost interest and continued further down the hallway.

_Ashikaga Shinako_, he rolled the name about in his head. He did this throughout the entire way to the court until he found no more interest in it. She was apparently his rival. He could have laughed at how ridiculous the thought even was, but all he did was smile.

She would prove nothing in the future to him.

* * *

Shinako stared at the paper in her hands with an expression of utmost shock and horror. She held it between two fingers as if it were something the teacher handed her out of the trash can.

'Oh, look, we passed!' Riko cried, throwing her arms up victoriously.

Shinako was not amused. 'Sensei, I do not understand.'

The teacher glanced at her with an exasperated look. Even though his expression spoke a thousand words, she waited for him to offer her an explanation. 'Ashikaga, I was quite disappointed in your script. I expected much more of you.'

'Sensei, that doesn't explain why you've given me (_a measly)_ 65%...!'

The teacher straightened up slightly and began flipping through the sleeves of his divider. 'Ashikaga, your explanations were vague. Some of the dates you got wrong, which is somewhat inexcusable when dealing with facts, and not to mention the spelling errors,' he pointed at the piece of paper in her hands, 'I was highly disappointed in you.'

Shinako shot Riko a glare, but the girl only grinned sheepishly and mouthed a half-hearted '_sorry_'. She was about to inquire the possibility of getting a second chance at the assignment to redeem herself, but the teacher silenced her with his hard look.

'No buts. I'd like you to read through the only project that came in without flaws. I scored them a 100, and when you read it, you'll find out why.'

The teacher turned without another word, leaving Shinako standing in the middle of the hallway with the two papers in her hands. She opened her mouth to call after him, but decided against it when she glanced at the one he handed her just seconds ago.

_100%, huh_... She thought, reading over the first few lines quickly. 'Akashi... Seijuro...'

The name did something to her brain. She didn't even realize that Riko was standing behind her, reading through the document in her hand until she heard a gasp.

'Akashi-san's amazing, huh?' she whispered from behind.

Shinako stuffed the paper into her file quickly and huffed. She wasn't in the mood to praise her nemesis... Or whoever he was to her depending on how the students viewed their "competition".

'I don't even know who he is, and I don't care.'

Riko pouted. 'I guess that's the reason why you'll never get a 100% grade aggregate. Shinako-san, you need to learn more about your enemies in order to better them.'

She ignored Riko and continued down the hallway alone.

It was after PM registration when Shinako retreated to the art room. The canvas was as she left it, displayed on the easle and in waiting for her to continue her handiwork. Instead she sat, staring at it for a long moment in contemplation, and then whipped out her file, searching through it for the Akashi's assignment.

She skimmed through it at great speed. At first there was nothing about it that seemingly caught her attention. Nothing about the composition or the skill it was executed came across as extraordinary as her teacher expressed.

Fearing she had perhaps missed out some larger details, she opened the document again and read through the first page. Contents. Introduction. She read through the entire 7-paged booklet and stared in horror as she neared the end.

This was her work. The information was taken out from the books she had researched on just the other night... The books she had mentioned to Riko to read through, the plan they had initially made... That afternoon... When she was at the library typing to computer 15.

It was like a slap in the face. Shinako stood up quickly from her seat and flew down the hallway, trekking through the entire building where she arrived at the staff room. She knocked on the door, waited patiently for just over two minutes when there was no response, and stood on her toes as she peeked into the glass window, only to have the door slide open.

'Ah, Ashikaga,' the teacher acknowledged.

Shinako swallowed her embarrassment and pointed to the sheet in her hand, frowning. 'Sensei, this is my work.'

'... Oh, look at the time.'

'Sensei, it's mine. I'm serious.'

'Do me a favor and return that to him, okay?'

'There's an entire explanation behind why I say it's mine.'

'The basketball club's just across from the art room. I'll see you tomorrow, Ashikaga.'

_Basketball club_...? Okay, she had to admit, she felt awfully uninformed and slightly guilty for brushing off Riko's earlier observation about knowing nothing about that Akashi guy. But it wasn't like she was willing to go out of her way to dig up information about him. That would be simply ridiculous. Even the thought made her feel weird.

...

_But the basketball club is just further down the art club. How could I have not even known that?_

She stood outside the door to the supposed 'basketball club' and glanced around for hints to support the idea. She noticed a sign on the door in Japanese that read exactly that, '_basketball clubroom_', and knocked. She was surprised that the club actually had its own room. Unlike the other clubs that used actual day classrooms for their activities, she assumed it was a pretty large group after all.

No one answered the door. She stood on her toes the way she did moments earlier, and glanced about the dark room in search of civilization. There was nobody present. She looked down at the door handle and noticed it was foolishly left ajar. Deciding that she would be as quick as possible to slink in, leave the assignment on a desk, and then slink out, Shinako entered the room.

She walked to the front row of desks and settled the booklet. Relieved that that was done, she turned around, however noticing a shogi board from the side of her eye. She turned to face it fully and took in the site of the mahogany wooden block that was decorated with white pieces within specific smaller blocks on the board. It was an incredibly odd sight. _The basketball team plays shogi?_

'Please don't touch my things.'

The voice startled her. She turned around quickly, staring at the figure that stood beneath the doorway to the room.

He had short, choppy, blood red hair. His eyes were slits; one red and one yellow. An air of hostility exuded from his presence and Shinako instantly felt the need to exit the room.

'Excuse me...' she mumbled, managing to make her way past him without contact, and retreated within the confines of the art room.

She hadn't realized it, but she had been holding in her breath ever since the moment he spoke. There was a frightening air about the guy she simply couldn't place. Was it the unusual colour of his hair? Well hers was the same. She was certain it was his eyes. How intimidating a person's gaze could be never occurred to her before.

_Akashi Seijuro... _she mused, holding onto the front of her uniform tightly as she struggled to comprehend just what on earth happened back there.


	3. Chapter 3

_Evening moon._

_On the lute_

_Plum blossom falling._

_- Shiki_

It was a new year. Shinako was finally a second year at Rakuzan Gakuen, passing the year with a typical 98%... However she was still not first. Again, did the board say, at the very top: _Akashi S, class 1 A, 100% grade aggregate._

Not that she cared. This time, she really didn't. After their first encounter in the basketball clubroom, she had realized how silly it was of her to fall into the venomous words of Riko's, telling her to give into her curiosity in finding out about the enemy. Of course, she made certain no other selfish desires came true. All she focused on was her academics. And her final year mark was a proud reflection of her hard work that final term of being a first year.

'Ah, Shinako-san, we're not together this year...' Riko pouted up at the board as Shinako arrived within the school gates.

She closed the gap between the board and the cherry tree, raising her head as she searched through the list of the 3 second year classes. And there it was - _Ashikaga S, class 2 A_... However there was something horribly eye-catching about the board as usual. She glanced beneath her name, pin-pointing nothing of real interest, and then above... Her eyes widened.

It read: _Akashi S, class 2 A._

'Whoa, check it out, the siblings are in the same class as us.'

'Ha-ha, this year should be fun.'

'Yeah, I can't wait to check out what happens.'

Shinako couldn't help but wonder how she would survive the rest of the year. It wasn't so much about the new class that bothered her, but... There was something about her '_nemesis_', as the students placed it, that made her awfully uncomfortable and intimidated despite the fact that she never even held a conversation with him before. None of the creepy vibes he gave off made sense. It just didn't seem natural.

* * *

She stared into the classroom after the spring opening school ceremony, observing carefully for the seat she could be sure she wouldn't regret picking. She needed somewhere she would be granted peace and quiet. A place where no one would bother her or speak to her.

She picked a seat in the middle of the class. Her mission: to hide in plain sight. During the first few minutes the class was given to settle down before the teacher could arrive, Shinako's plan had succeeded. She was left alone, keeping her eyes down as she memorized the week's subjects from a small timetable she made quickly this morning when she was already by the boards at the entrance of the school.

She glanced up slowly and observed the class as she mumbled the day's subjects. Most of the students seemed familiar with one another. There were only a handful of them who looked new, she observed, judging by their timid expressions and closed body language.

But there it was. The thing that caught her eye, you see. The thing that caught her off-guard. The site of blood red hair. She wondered if for a moment she gave off the same feels to the people around her because of her unusual hair colour. But then her train of thoughts was interrupted by how _ordinary_ the boy looked. The way he smiled with the group he walked with contrasted greatly with the image of him she couldn't forget from last term.

Then their eyes locked. Just for a brief moment. For less than a split second. And his stern look sent shivers down her spine. What was with the intense feels he exuded? It was like he radiated some sort of killing intent. Some kind of menacing bloodlust and submission. She was unsure of what words to use to describe the feeling, but what she did know for sure was that he stirred fear in her heart...not that she sat back and allowed the awfully intimidating vibes he gave off to faze her.

He was merely a face in the crowd. And she decided to allow him to stay that way in the future.

'Ah, that's a really interesting book, _Ashi_... _Kaga_... San.'

Shinako was so engrossed in unknowingly observing the read-haired boy that she hadn't the chance to realize the blonde girl that leaned toward her from the other side of her desk. She blinked, once, twice. '... Do I know you?'

The girl frowned, dramatically feigning injury as she threw a hand over her chest. 'What is it with people in this school? The word _tact_ doesn't exist here!'

Shinako ignored her comment and directed her eyes into her novel again. The girl across from her gasped and plunked herself into the vacant seat in front of her. Shinako watched from the top of the book as the girl observed the cover and blinked quizzically at the English title. It was one of those rare occasions where instead of reading haiku compilations, she had brought to school one of her grandfather's dusty old English books.

To Shinako's relief, the girl hadn't attempted initiating conversation with her again. However when the sensei walked in, she noted that the blonde also hadn't given any hints of changing her seat.

The formal introductions were carried out as per se. Shinako took great care in taking in details of the classroom. She noted where the Akashi guy sat-at the front row, in the extreme left corner against the window. His introduction was considerably bland, consisting of the monotonous formalities, but what set his synopsis aside from the rest of them was the creepy edge to his voice that otherwise said '_show respect and you shall earn mutuality_'... Shinako wasn't sure whether she was the only one to pick this out from his tone and blank expression.

The blonde in front of her was in fact an exchange student from some foreign country; apparently returning to Japan after 4 years of studying abroad; and this information had piqued the class's interest.

_'Ikina Natsume, desu,'_ she raised two fingers and glowed, '_yoroshiku, onegai shimasu!_'

It had appeared - during the break - that the Ikina was the center of attention to most second years of Rakuzan. Her personality and outer appearance gave great credit to her first name. _Natsume, _summer beauty.

And despite her capturing the eyes of so many of her classmates, she persisted in relentlessly pursuing the female redhead of class 2 A.

Shinako was unsure of the details behind the new girl's obsession with her, but instead dealt with the situation like any other: she ignored her, and continued on with her daily routine as if nothing were out of place.

It was after school when Shinako retreated to the art room. On her way there, she was confronted by Natsume suggesting they walk home together, and slightly (only slightly, mind you) vexed by the girl's persistent nature, managed to give her a piece of her mind.

'_Ikino-san, I'm going to make this clear now. We are not friends, and I have no intention of befriending you. Please stop bothering me_.'

She didn't want to admit it, but as she walked to the art room, she felt awfully guilty about what she'd said. She was never usually this cold despite how often she tried to conceal her soft side. She sighed, attempting to smother the feeling with haiku inspirations that floated about in her head as she placed her hand within the door handle to the classroom.

She stopped suddenly in her tracks at the sound of a level voice that wavered down the hallway. She turned her head, glancing at the direction of the source, and stared directly into the tiny classroom window further down the hallway across from the wall she faced. She spotted the redhead. He was standing in front of the blackboard, demonstrating an intricate drawing on it with a stick of chalk. His eyes were narrowed and soft. He presented open body language. He seemed so at ease. His entire attitude a complete contrast to the time she'd faced him in the same classroom just months ago.

She shook her head. She tried not to think about it much as she would have liked to, and entered the art room.

The sight of the empty classroom was somewhat disheartening. Only somewhat though. She had wished more students had taken an interest in the hobby, but still, it was only her. The previous third years had started up the club, and she had made relatively good friends with them. They had showed her the ropes of how to manage the group, but suddenly - as she stood at the center of the empty room - she knew there was only little hope for the club.

Besides, since when was basketball ever so popular?

She pushed the thought aside and unzipped her canvas bag, pulling out the contents as she placed it with great care on the easle against the window. The deep orange sunlight poured into the room, staining the entire class with shades of warmth.

_A straw mat_

_In the moonlight._

_A pine tree's shadow falls across it._

She recalled the haiku by Takarai Kikaku as she stared out the window at the blooming cherry trees.

A group of first year students walked past the art class. They glanced in, stared at Shinako as she stared at the canvas and greeted each other awkwardly, then moved further down before watching the basketball club in awe.

_Basketball_... The word was equivalent to tasting something incredibly bitter.

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello again, minna-san! ^.^ I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Haha, the past few chapters along with this one have been quite Akashi-less, but fear not! He'll be arriving soon ;D Stay tuned!_


	4. Chapter 4

She stared down at the page with only the slightest disbelief... Only the slightest, though. She had been expecting this sort of development. However just not so soon.

'I'm sorry, Ashikaga, but it has to be done,' the teacher shrugged, staring at her sheepishly with raised eyebrows.

She closed her eyes. 'May I have an extension?'

'I tried my best to get you one, but there's a demand for the room.'

'A demand?' she frowned. She had imagined that perhaps she could manage to convince some students to temporarily join the art club, but suddenly the teacher's words extinguished that possibility.

He rubbed the back of his head. 'Yeah, the basketball club's gotten quite a hefty amount of first years. They're going to extend, and the closest room to theirs is the art club. I've already received their submission forms.'

Shinako grew cold. _Basketball_. It left that awful feeling with her again. She was simply _irked_ by the damned word.

'Sensei, you've only given me 3 days...'

'I'm sorry, Ashikaga. But I can't do anything about it.'

The teacher left, leaving Shinako standing in the middle of the hallway at break. Thoughts raced through her head. She didn't know what would be her plan for the next 3 days of gathering as many students as she could to join the art club, or else the entire thing would shut down and the basketball club would take over it.

She groaned inwardly as she turned around, startled slightly (only in the slightest) by coming face to face with the exchange student. She wasn't in the mood to deal with her right now, but something about the girl's expressions portrayed nothing of her usually bubbly and excitable self.

'Shinako-chan, I overheard your conversation with sensei.'

'I never gave you permission to call me that.'

'And I have a plan of action. I really want to help.'

Shinako narrowed her eyes. She knew there had to be some ulterior motive to the girl's sudden generosity and determination, which in turn made her defensive. 'What do you have in mind?'

Natsume beamed. 'I'm pretty popular with the second years, so I'll help you advertise the club!'

Shinako dead-panned. 'And? What is it? What do you want in return?'

'You have to tutor me for maths.'

Shinako outstretched her hand. 'Deal.'

She trusted the girl's word of her booming popularity when they walked through the hallways of the school. Almost every classroom they had entered, she was instantly mobbed by a group of girls and the boys watched quietly from afar, some going out of their way to greet her.

Shinako wasn't exactly sure how the girl managed to drag her around with her to advertise, neither was she sure of how easily she gave into simply "walking with her to the cafeteria". _This_ was what giving into the girl's sweet talk had cost her. A break without her study notes and haiku compilations. At first the entire ordeal was horridly awkward. She felt almost like a rag doll, being dragged around from class to class behind the epitome of summer, and then being asked to (after a moment of awfully embarrassing silence) speak about her club and the reason why she needed them as members.

Of course for the first few days, most of the students showed genuine interest in the story. In fact a lot of the students had claimed they'd never before even knew an art club existed (and that it was their first time meeting the 'sibling' of Akashi's).

However their interest was only short-lived. Their promises had been empty. None of the students during all that time had visited the club or applied.

However their indifference didn't keep Shinako from holding her end of the bargain.

It was the afternoon of the last day she was given to clear all traces of the art club. She felt somewhat attached to the room... Only somewhat though. She lugged her canvas bag behind her as she entered the library on meeting with Natsume.

During the last few days of receiving her help, the new girl had surprisingly grown on Shinako. Like fungus. Despite her showing off her uninterest in befriending the girl, the entire ordeal led to a different turn of events. Even though she hadn't wanted to admit it, without Natsume around her during the mornings and some breaks when they split up, she felt rather lonely. All this time she managed to survive, and suddenly it was like the girl's bubbly nature infected her.

'Did you do the examples I gave you yesterday?'

'Yeah,' she mumbled, staring blankly at the opposite wall.

Shinako frowned at her odd behavior, but pushed aside her suspicions just as quickly and took her seat beside her. 'Let me see them.'

Natsume continued to stare at the wall, and Shinako watched her quietly. This carried on for a few more agonizing seconds until the girl snapped back to reality with eyes wide. 'Shinako-chan, did you say something?'

Shinako gave her a level look. 'What happened? You're acting unusual.'

It took Natsume a moment to process, Shinako noted. And as if reminiscing on whatever incident took place that caused her somber state, tears sprung to Natsume's eyes. Surprised at the sudden reaction her question got out of her, Shinako could only put her hand on her shoulder uneasily.

She sniffed. She looked horribly distraught. As if something tragic happened only moments ago, and Shinako braced herself for the worst. 'Our class captain really creeps me out...'

Shinako blinked. 'What? Elaborate.'

'Akashi-san,' she whispered his name like it was some sort of forbidden word, 'I don't know how the cleaning roster works yet, so apparently yesterday it was my turn to clean the class, but I came here instead with you.' she paused to swallow. 'When I came to school this morning, everyone in the class was acting pretty weird. I had no idea why they were giving me the cold shoulder until one of the class boy's said earlier that Akashi-san wanted to see me. I mean, he was really nice the other day when he asked the class to help me get familiar with the school and stuff, and they did explain the roster to me, although it totally slipped my mind.

'But I went to see him after registration just now, and at first he was really cool about it. He asked me really nicely why I didn't help out yesterday after school and when I told him I forgot, he...' she shuddered, 'he like... Totally _flipped out_.'

Shinako stared at her puzzled. 'Natsume, what do you mean?'

Now that she was given the chance to properly inspect the girl, she only now noticed how pretty shaken-up she was. 'He grabbed me by the tie and told me to never screw up again, then he just walked off like nothing happened. He scared me so much, I couldn't even move.'

* * *

It took Shinako a long moment to process this information as she managed to calm Natsume down considerably and continued with their study session. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but perhaps why the students respected him so much was because of his ability to use his intimidating personality as a means of power over others? She could tell - more or less from that one incident when they first met - that he was a somewhat scary guy... Only somewhat though.

After sending Natsume home and making sure she stayed behind at the school, Shinako found a new sort of determination as she climbed the staircase to the art room. She walked past it - glancing inside as she did for only a brief second - and stood outside the door to the basketball club with her two bags beneath each arm.

She knocked on the door and waited. After a minute of patiently standing (this time without peeking in through the top window) the door slid open, revealing a tall light-haired student who portrayed an unreadable expression.

The two stared at each other awkwardly before Shinako bowed her head. 'Good evening,' she murmured, looking up again as the guy's eyes widened and his lips spread into a grin.

'Woh, Reo-nee, look! Akashi became a girl!'

Shinako fought back the incredible urge to scowl at his comparison of them. She looked further into the classroom where a guy considerably taller than the one that opened the door appeared.

'Hayama, please keep your voice down,' he mumbled, looking up from a stack of papers he seemed busy with attending to.

He turned his attention to Shinako as she stood awkwardly outside the classroom and smiled. He had awfully feminine features for a guy, and she couldn't help but notice this. 'Please excuse the noisemaker at the door. How can I help you?'

The blonde one fussed about his friend's statement, and Shinako perked up. 'Is Akashi-san here? I wish to speak with him.'

Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she had ever actually said the guy's name. She had imagined cringing on saying it considering how much it really lolled around in her head, however it was the weird silence that ensued that made her feel more uncomfortable than saying the actual name.

'Hmm... Sei-chan's actually at the court, but he'll be back anytime soon. But feel free to wait for him.' The dark-haired one replied.

Shinako exhaled, walking carefully into the classroom with a slight feeling of unease... _Slight _indeed. She set her things on a nearby desk and felt somewhat awkward being alone in the room with the two third years. She wondered whether or not to retreat to the library in the meantime when the blonde one perked up at the class door as it slid open.

'Ah, speak of the devil,' he mumbled.

There it was. That distracting colour, you see. The blood red hair of none other than Akashi. He had a blue towel around his neck and wore a white t-shirt and black shorts. The simple clothes he wore made his hair stand out far more intensely even in the dimly-lit classroom.

He put one hand on his hip and one remained in the air in front of him as he pointed at the other guys in the classroom. 'Reo, Kotaro, do the usual drills with the first years. Leave the papers to me. It's getting late.'

The dark-haired one - named Reo - nodded in acknowledgment and Kotaro - the one with light hair - said a few more things before he retreated outside the class with his bag. The two left, leaving Shinako as she watched Akashi intently while he collected the papers from a desk at the back of the class.

He put the documents together and headed for the door, opening it when Shinako found her voice. 'Akashi-san, I would like to have a word with you.'

He stopped at the door, turning around only slightly with dead eyes as he looked back. 'I'm currently unavailable, Ashikaga-san. Perhaps next week would be a better time.'


	5. Chapter 5

She was only slightly agitated by how lightly he took her request... Only in the slightest, though. She had been prepared that Friday to confront him about her current issues, but when he had turned down her request for negotiation, his apathy toward the situation only fueled her slight agitation. Slight indeed!

Over the weekend thereafter, she was given a chance to overview how she would the coming Monday approach him. During her Saturday study period and Sunday cram school, she allowed for the coming ordeal to only occupy a certain amount of time out of her academics.

'Ah, Shinako-chan, good morning,' Natsume smiled that Monday morning, raising her hand as she ambled into the classroom.

Shinako hadn't raised her head. Her eyes were still glued into the textbook she opened earlier as she searched through exercises. 'Good morning.'

'Shin-chan, I did the exercises you told me to do over the weekend.'

'Please do not call me that.'

'Here, have a look.'

Shinako took the book from her slowly, scanning through the sums and pointed out over a dozen mistakes. Natsume - she gathered thus far - was a person unable to comprehend even the simplest of mathematics. If it were not for her calculator, she wouldn't even be able to execute basic additions or subtractions.

'I won't be able to see you this afternoon.'

Natsume's eyes widened at that. 'What? Why not?'

'I have something important to attend to.'

Even though it was an extremely taxing task, Shinako had to endure Natsume's crying and pleading as she begged for the one extra maths tuition. Despite explaining to the girl why she had initially stressed on the word '_important_' in her previous explanation of being absent for the session, Natsume would have none of it.

'Shin-chan, I'm going to follow you!' she said, blowing up her cheeks as she tightened her grip on the strap of her bag with determination.

Shinako frowned. 'Don't call me that. And no-I gave you homework to complete. Please do not bother trying to find me.'

She had managed to lose the girl at some point, and as she walked through the corridors after school, felt awfully nostalgic when memories of the art room flooded her conscience.

_Twilight_

_In the middle of the town._

_A single butterfly._

The haiku by Takarai Kikaku seemed so fitting of the sun-stained school corridors. She glanced over her shoulder, taking the necessary precautions in making sure she wasn't being followed by a certain someone, and stopped walking when she noted she was in fact safe.

She turned around, glancing out the window as she checked the time on her cell phone. It was still relatively early and she was certain she didn't want to go through the incredibly awkward moment of standing alone within the confines of a remote classroom as she waited for that Akashi guy to show up. Unsure of what to do in order to kill time until then, she looked out over the school courtyard, noticing two figures appear from outside one of the large buildings and concentrated on their extending shadows in the late afternoon sun. She couldn't discern the faces of the given individuals, but nonetheless, they seemed to be having a pretty serious conversation.

She moved away from the wall and carried on down the hallway where she walked past the art room. She didn't want to give it a second glance.

She felt somewhat useless as she waited a further five minutes standing outside the basketball club, but it was not long after when she was approached by the tall dark-haired third year from the other day.

His eyes widened as if he were pleasantly surprised. 'Oh, it's you again, the girl from the other day.' he smiled.

There was something about him that was incredibly relaxing. Perhaps it was his small eyes. Or his easy smile. She couldn't exactly place it, but nonetheless she returned the expression. 'Good afternoon.'

He glanced at the door and then back at Shinako. His eyebrows furrowed before he stepped forward and opened the room door, sliding it back and then gesturing for her to come in.

She didn't know whether to accept his polite invitation, but pushed aside her little uneasiness and walked in a little far behind him. The room - to her mild surprise - was _packed _with students. They sat around together, watching what looked like a basketball match on a small TV at the front desk. The moment she entered, it felt as if a spotlight had fallen over her. She felt incredibly awkward with everyone's eyes on her, and tried to ignore the agitating pulse in her forehead that quickened with remarks revolving around how similar she and their team captain looked.

* * *

Much like Friday's after-school incident, it hadn't taken the Akashi a while to make an appearance. He was relatively punctual, and the moment he opened the door, the energetic chatter from the boys died down. There was something intense he exuded. As if an emperor of some sort had walked into the room.

Even though the idea was ridiculous, Shinako couldn't help but wonder for a moment just _what_ he really was.

'Ah, Sei-chan, there's someone here to see you,' Reo gestured to the extreme left of the class where Shinako stood waiting against the window.

Akashi's blank expression hadn't changed. The girl hadn't interested him, and this fact contributed to his lack of concern toward her proposal to meet with him. 'Sit,' he said, taking his place at one side of the shogi board.

Shinako - with difficulty - ignored the tone he used with her and sat at the other end of the desk. 'Akashi-san, I-' 'Let's decide this with a game of shogi, Ashikaga-san.'

She hadn't noticed it any earlier but the room had cleared out considerably since the two of them sat down across from one another. Only a few students remained, discussing quietly in the far corner of the room, and the usual seniors she had met the other day.

'Excuse me...?'

'The art room. I gather it's important to you. You want it back, don't you? Let's decide the answer with a game of shogi,' he smiled, 'if I win, it's mine. If you win, it's yours again.'

She stared at him silently as he gathered the white shogi pieces and re-arranged them on the board. The board game wasn't exactly a strong point of hers. She didn't even know her opponent's capabilities. Accepting his challenge would be like diving into a shark tank expecting not to be bitten.

'Don't underestimate yourself,' he mumbled; a soft gleam in his eyes as he continued to arrange the pieces on the board.

Shinako breathed. 'I accept your challenge.'

It had taken only 20 minutes; if not less; for the dreaded word to spill from his lips: '_checkmate_.'

Shinako scowled at the board as he instead smiled at his chance for victory. She could see no way out. There was no way of avoiding the loss. To end her turn, she simply moved the last pawn she had forward, and just as quickly he moved forward his lance, claiming her king. The game was over.

When she had at first entered the room to speak with him, she was somewhat influenced by a mixture of both determination and a little bit of anger. But now that she was given the chance to silently discuss whatever it was through a game of shogi, all those feelings simply dissipated. She felt nothing toward him all over again. No irritation. No animosity. She was not at all bothered.

Shinako stood from the desk. 'I lost. As agreed, the room is yours.'

He smirked. It was an expression of his that exuded sinister intent, and combined with his somewhat intimidating self, the intensity in the room heightened. 'You were foolish to accept my challenge, Ashikaga-san. You should be more aware of your limits. I know everything. I predicted your every move...,' he flashed her a dangerous look, 'I am absolute.'

A second before he had spoken, Shinako had the intention of leaving the room with her dignity intact. But now that his words reached her ears, she couldn't help but scowl at him as he picked at the shogi pieces from their earlier game.

'**You're like this ugly yokai.**_'_

She clenched her fists. She didn't realize it but her whole body was trembling. She was thankful that the room was relatively dark so that her hair managed to veil her eyes as she glared at him at the other side of the desk.

'I really don't like people like you. I hate everything about your mindset, and yet those idiots persist on labeling us siblings. You think you've got everyone under your thumb, but that's just arrogance. You can't control everybody. You can't predict everything.

'You think you're perfect. _Absolute_, was it? But there's this flaw you have that's dead ahead of you that you can't even see. That's just how pathetic you really are. You're only human. You're no different from me or the rest of us.'

The last thing she had remembered seeing him doing was lifting a shogi piece from the board.

_Snip, snippity, __**snip**_.

The next moment he stood up, leaning over the desk with a pair of scissors in his hands, and with wide eyes, he snipped the long tail of red hair that rested over her shoulder. She felt a stinging pain in her left ear and on reflex, instantaneously threw out her hand as her knuckles collided with the side of his face.

The shogi pieces clattered to the floor. Strands of hair were airborne, floating to the ground slowly where the larger clump lay lifeless at her feet.

The silence that ensued was deafening. The students in the room watched in shock and horror at the scene that unfolded at the front of the class.

'You are an insignificant piece of _shit_.' she hissed, grabbing her school bag as she rushed out of the room and didn't dare to look back as she clasped her burning ear.

Akashi remained fixed to the spot. His eyes focused on the window as the pain in his jaw slowly came to life, and his teammates stared uneasily in return. They were unsure of his next reaction, and fearing the worst, most of the students made it a point to leave the class.

'Get out.' he simply said, and in an instant he was left alone in the room.

He tested his neck as he turned his head forward to face the shogi board. The scissors was opened, lying in the middle of the wooden block, whereas the shogi pieces were scattered about on the floor. Strands of her bright red hair littered his feet. Some of it was on his hands. But what caught his attention was the drops of blood on the board.

He stared out the window again and as predicted, he watched her rush out of the school gates, clasping her ear in one hand, and grasping her bag in the other. He smiled. The bruise on his right cheek prickled uncomfortably, but he somehow found the pain pleasing.

_A cat in heat shimmers_

_Also follows_

_The God of Wandering._

_- Kobayashi Issa_

* * *

**_A/N_**_: Dun-dun-DUUUUN! Haha, I hope everyone's enjoying this fan-fiction so far. OMG, the drama! Ah, I just love these sorts of moments. Not to mention Akashi bragging? Woh! More shall be revealed, I say! __**Feedback**__ is cool as beans, mmkay. So you are cool beans for reviewing/fav'ing/following! ^.^ Stay tuned for the next chapter! ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

'S-Shin-chan, what...!'

She was glad she was given the chance to respond to this sort of reaction at home first.

When she had arrived home yesterday after the classroom ordeal, she was in complete shock. At first she could barely grasp what had just happened. If it weren't for the mirror directly in front of her in the bedroom, she honestly would have believed she was dreaming.

She would have never imagined the boy suffered from a severe case of psychosis. The first thing she got to work on when she realized he had actually _cut_ her precious long hair away with a pair of _school scissors_, she grabbed the closest (and most reliable pair) of her own and began snipping away at the horribly uneven cuttings to make it look in the least decent. She seethed at the damned Akashi as she tried to salvage what she could.

She hadn't expected him to react to her outburst. What she assumed he would do was simply sit and take her words with that apathetic look in his eye, but his response led to a purely horrifying turn of events.

_'Shin, I thought you really liked your hair._' her grandfather said to her sadly as he sat on the floor outside, concentrating on something in his haiku journal.

She didn't _like_ her hair. She _loved_ it the way it was. And as she attended to it last night, the words she plastered to his forehead in her imagination were despicable! She would have never even imagined she knew such horrid words! However the boy brought out the worst in her. She was certain she would never associate herself with him again, and she was glad she managed to give him a good piece of her mind before she decided this.

Not to mention he had nicked her ear too!

'I got it cut yesterday, that's why I had to cancel tuition,' she fiddled with the thin short layers, hoping Natsume was hopeless at telling when a person was lying.

However Natsume's expression was priceless. Her mouth hung open and her hand was outstretched towards Shinako's face; her index finger pointing directly at her nose. 'And your ear!?'

Shinako blinked. 'The hairdresser. He cut it by mistake.'

'Oh my God. This guy should be arrested.'

'It's fine. I just have to get used to how... Short it is.'

'Shin-chan, it really doesn't suit you.'

'Don't call me that. And that comment was unnecessary. If you don't like how my hair looks, then get out.'

'Get out where? We're in school. And demand a refund!'

She decided against another ridiculous excuse for that suggestion, and turned on her heel as she walked down the hallway to class. To be honest, she didn't want to face the day knowing that seeing the Akashi would be inevitable. She was uncertain of how she would react to his seeing his damned face. She could only imagine sticking _post it_'s on his head with vulgar words written on them. Oh, how she burned on the inside!

* * *

To her dismay it wasn't long after when she had to come to terms with her current situation. She sat at her desk, as usual skimming through notes she'd taken down the day before and then reading through her maths textbook for fitting examples to complete when the redhead had entered the classroom.

He was approached by one of the student's from the class before he could make it halfway across the room to his seat. He was handed papers, spoke briefly with the individual, and on turning, his eyes fell upon the the Ashikaga as she sat concentrating fiercely into her textbook.

The bruise she'd given him yesterday was only visible on thorough inspection of his face. He had predicted her hopeless loss of the shogi match, but he hadn't expected her reaction to his scissors skills to be one she responded to with violence. Her defiance was like an irritating voice at the back of his mind that he wanted to stomp down.

However she would not prove problematic. Not now. Not ever.

Natsume watched the intense feels that exuded between the redhead siblings. The ferocious glares he threw at her as she directed her own agitation into her textbook sent shivers down Natsume's spine. The entire class watched in a mixture of fear and confusion as the two shared some sort of savage acknowledgment of one another, however the horror was short-lived when Akashi moved to take his seat.

Natsume shuddered. 'Shin-chan, that was scary...!' she whispered, turning around in her chair to face Shinako's desk.

Shinako harrumphed a response. She couldn't have cared less for her classmate's concerned looks. All she knew was that she would not tolerate the Akashi's nonsense. He definitely owed her an apology, however she knew well that he would not offer one. At least his cruel glares said that much.

It was during the first break when Shinako had left the field to visit the cafeteria. She had purchased lunch often, avoiding junk foods where possible, and usually spent her money on energy drinks. Being superhuman was not easy. _Hah_. It sounded like a title for a novel.

She carried the three cans and a cling-wrapped meatloaf sandwich with her as she headed off to the field again. However she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the sound of footsteps coming in her direction. She listened for a while longer, and seeing nothing appear directly in front of her, she turned on her heel where Natsume's face almost collided with her own.

'Natsume, I told you not to follow me.'

'Shin-chan...,' she huffed, folding over as she placed her hands on her knees tiredly and breathed, 'there... There are these scary guys on the field that are looking for you.'

Shinako frowned. 'What?'

'Shin-chan, I'm not kidding.'

'You didn't have to come looking for me. I doubt it's anything important.'

Natsume's eyes hardened. She put her hands on Shinako's shoulders and narrowed her eyes. 'Shin-chan. They look threatening. They are _freaking _me out, and they demand to see you. So please. Let's go.'

It wasn't often that Shinako got the chance to see Natsume so uneasy. The only time she'd been witness to the girl's distress was when she had spoken about that incident with Akashi. But otherwise, she was relatively calm and collected.

Shinako wondered if - perhaps - the _'scary guys_' had something to do with the Akashi... But when she arrived at the field, she was slightly surprised. Only slightly, though.

'Ah, Shin-chan,' Reo smiled, angling his body slightly as he turned to face her.

Shinako frowned. 'Please do not call me that, sempai.'

The blonde one was there too, Shinako noted, chatting away idly before spotting her. 'Ah, look, look, it's Akashi's sis again.'

She was ready to protest in regard to being called his sibling yet again, but decided against it. Arguing with the guy wouldn't get her anywhere. 'Is there something important you have to discuss with me?' she asked.

The blonde one shrugged, 'not really,' he said, looking rather absent-minded suddenly as he reached for one of the cans in her arms.

Shinako attempted snatching the can back, but he put it above her head teasingly and grinned. 'Aha-ha, the two of you are even the same height.'

A vein pulsed on her forehead at his remark and she decided to drop it. 'I'm leaving.' she stated simply, frowning at how fiercely the boy had managed to agitate her, and Reo let out a sound of exasperation.

'Kotaro, stop it.'

The blonde one pouted, handing the can over to him. 'Yeah, yeah.'

Shinako managed to calm down considerably even though the boy issued her a half-hearted apology. She decided to hear them out, folding her arms as she set the cans down and dug into her lunch.

'So you saw the whole thing yesterday...?' she mumbled, directing the question to nobody in particular as she bit into the foot-long roll.

Reo nodded. 'I must say, I was pretty surprised by your reaction.'

Kotaro's eyes twinkled mischievously. 'We knew you were gonna lose, but when you actually hit him-ha-ha-that was a shocker. You were so hardcore!'

Reo nodded, making a sound of approval. 'Hmm, not to mention you actually got him to brag about him winning the match. He probably over-estimated you by a fraction.'

She didn't know whether or not to feel any different about the entire ordeal, considering the praise came from a total idiot. She didn't think much of Kotaro. He was simply a noisy person that didn't have any tact... Then again, it wasn't like she knew him well anyway. Not that she cared.

She harrumphed. She was tempted to comment on their captain's stinking attitude, but somehow felt as if she were in no position to considering the company she was in. 'Flattery will get you nowhere.'

Her simple comment somehow made the two stare at her strangely. They both wore expressions an odd mixture of confusion and anxiety, as if they were waiting for something. She felt awkward beneath their expectant gaze, and was about to say something when Reo beat her to it.

'Wow. Shin-chan, I didn't know you could read minds...'

'Ah, she's definitely Akashi's sister.'

'Stop that. If the two of you are constantly going to compare me to the likes of that guy, I'm leaving.'

Reo held up his hands in surrender. 'OK, we'll get to the point,' he said, and Kotaro took one step back. She wondered what was going on and for a second, the anticipation made her panic slightly... Only slightly, though.

'We want you to join the basketball club.'

...

It took a moment for the words to process in her brain. She smiled. The smile transformed into a grin. And then she laughed. Loud and clear, attracting the attention of the students that were nearby.

Reo glanced back at Kotaro and then at Shinako with unease. The two stared at her as she broke out into a fit of hysterical laughter. To be honest, they didn't know how she would react. But now that she actually found their request so hilarious, they didn't know to respond to that.

'Oh my,' she wiped the single tear from her eye, still grinning, 'you guys are funny.'

Kotaro blinked. 'Aka-nee, we're serious. We want you to join.'

Shinako's smile fell. She stared at them as if they just issued her a death sentence. 'Stop the bad joke, guys.'

Reo shrugged. 'We're not joking. We seriously want you to consider joining.'

She frowned. 'This doesn't make sense. You both saw what happened yesterday. There's just no way I'm going to join the team.'

'Well,' Kotaro rubbed the back of his head, 'we think it's a pretty great idea because you're the reason behind why our captain's in such a foul mood from this morning.'

'Well that's your problem, not mine.'

'Ah, such a feisty one! Reo-nee, the plan's not working!'

She tapped her foot and took another bite of her lunch. 'Besides, I'm not even remotely interested in the sport. There is nothing I could gain from it. I can't even play it.'

'Ah,' Reo smiled again, putting one finger up, 'Sei-chan's a really great teacher, so you'll learn all about basketball in no time.'

She scowled at even the thought. It was like blasphemy out of the guy's mouth when he mentioned that Akashi would _tutor _her about the sport. 'Well this entire meeting was very pointless, because my answer is no.'

Reo frowned sadly. 'Shin-chan, please think about it at least?'

She shook her head, taking another bite out of her lunch as she munched fiercely and tapped her foot. Since when did they have a right to pressure her into something so vitally important in her school life? She could barely keep up with holding the art club together. How could they expect her to give into the very club that forced hers to disband?

'Please stop bothering my Shinako.'

The voice was like a cold winter spell that seeped through her bones. She turned around, staring darkly at the redhead who walked towards them across the field. He smiled despite her death glares, and Reo and Kotaro instantly tensed at the extreme height of hostility between them.

Shinako - on chewing so fast and viciously - bit her gum. She tensed, groaning inwardly at the intense pain in her mouth, and if it weren't for the striking agony, she would have protested against him referring to her as _his_ possession. The ludicrous trash from his mouth! The incompetent shogi-obsessed basketball player!

'Ah, there goes the bell,' Reo mumbled, putting a hand on Shinako's shoulder reassuringly, 'we'll talk later, Shin-chan.'

If it weren't for that blessed hand on her shoulder, she didn't know what possible demonic things she would have done to the boy. She was grateful for Reo's relaxing presence and turned around again.

'Sure,' she mumbled, kneeling to retrieve her things, but the 3 cans were nowhere to be found.

She got up again, twirling around as she watched the three boys walk off, each with a can in their hands. Kotaro grinned back at her widely, and all she could do was remain immensely agitated throughout the rest of the day... _Immensely_ indeed.


	7. Chapter 7

_Awakening spring;_

_Like a toddler, the insect_

_Learns about legs._

_- Tan Taigi_

Shinako couldn't let her guard down. She knew she couldn't make it down the corridor without another outburst again from the third year basketball club players. Throughout the duration of the day, they had pestered her incessantly about joining the club. Despite how many times she had to remind them tiredly of her refusal, they still denied her the peace she sought. Since when was her life ever this stressful?

Natsume had in turn grown suspicious of the boys hanging around her friend. She assumed they were delinquents, and wondered just what on earth they had to do with the genius redhead.

'They want you... To join the basketball club?' Natsume couldn't help but stifle a bubbling roar of laughter.

The thought of Shinako in a t-shirt and shorts seemed ridiculous. She even imagined numbers and equations on the articles of clothing somewhat, but instantly trashed the thought at Shinako's death glare. 'Sorry, Shin-chan, but I just can't see you playing any kind of sport.'

Even though she'd seen her during PE when they practiced soft ball, it was obvious Shinako only tried at the subject in order for it to boost her aggregate.

Shinako didn't want to say anything to that comment. Instead she concentrated on Natsume's handiwork, and commended her for getting most of the equations right. It had taken over a week for her to thoroughly teach the single aspect of work to the girl, but it now seemed like she was actually getting somewhere.

'I don't see though why joining them would be a bad idea.'

Shinako closed her eyes. 'Well there's absolutely _nothing_ positive about it.'

Natsume stared blankly at her and then directed her attention to the maths book. 'You might actually be good at it.'

'I don't fit the criteria.'

'Is that a little run-down self esteem I hear?'

She didn't bother explaining anymore to her. Instead, Shinako simply hauled her bag from the floor and headed down the staircase. She was relieved that she had managed to get this far without either of the sempai's catching her out again. She groaned in dismay however when she reached the school gate.

Kotaro stood carrying a bag on either shoulder, and beside him, an even larger boy stood looking rather nonchalant. Shinako was unsure if the boy was a student of Rakuzan. He was so large and tall, that if it weren't for his matching school uniform, she would have easily mistaken him for being a gang member of some sorts.

Kotaro looked around with a relatively bored expression on his face, and did a double take when he noticed her not far away. 'Ah, Aka-nee, we were looking for you!' he waved at her.

There was no escape. As much as she wanted to dart out the school gate, she wasn't exactly sure what the action would do to her pride. She walked over to them instead (as much as her mind was telling her not to), and greeted the larger student, soon discovering his name was Eikichi.

'Ah, I'm so hungry,' he mumbled, stretching his arms up over his head.

Kotaro gave him an exasperated look, mumbled some names at him, and then turned to face Shinako. 'Okay, we'll be leaving, so here,' he handed one of the bags to her, 'give Reo-nee his bag for me, will ya.'

Shinako stared at it, not wanting to actually do the boy a favor, but he put the strap in her free hand and a second later, he was gone. She held it like it was some dangerous animal. She turned around, walking towards what she was certain was the basketball court, and stopped the moment she took her first step in.

A small number of first years were running around the perimeter of the court. The stench of sweat was pretty unbearable, but mixed with the musty smell of the polished floors, it hadn't bothered Shinako as much as she would have imagined.

On any other occasion, Shinako would not have even bothered. The place would not have interested her in the least. But the sound of rubber-soled shoes as they squeaked against the wooden floors was enticing. So much so that Shinako moved to the stands as she seated herself comfortably with Reo's bag and watched them file out one by one into the change rooms.

She didn't see the redhead boy, and it turn, sitting there hadn't irked her in the way she assumed it would. The team captain was of course the one thing that held her back from accepting Reo's and Kotaro's proposal to join the club. She wouldn't have minded being a part of a school club. Considering how much she enjoyed being a part of the art students during break and in the afternoons, she had gotten used to that sort of school lifestyle. She needed something to do other than study.

And she only realized that _now_ as she sat in the stands, watching the young boys as they fooled around with the basketball.

'Ah, Shin-chan,' she perked up at the sound of Reo's voice, 'I'm so glad you came.'

As usual he wore an expression of contentment. He looked genuinely pleased by her presence, and just a little - only just a little bit - she felt her cheeks warm. She frowned, quickly turning her head to hide her expression, and harrumphed. 'Hayama told me to give this to you.'

'Oh, thanks,' he took the bag, adjusting the strap over his shoulder.

She got up, making her way past Reo as she walked out of the court and he followed not far behind her.

* * *

The incident repeated itself throughout the week. She would tutor Natsume after PM registration in the library. She would thereafter make her way to the school gates where Kotaro and Eikichi would hand her Reo's bag, and then she would sit in the basketball court stands, observing the first years as they ran laps and practiced passes with the ball.

It was that Friday afternoon where Reo was later than usual. Shinako had grown tired of sitting idly in the stands, and considering there were no students to watch either, she felt horribly bored.

She attempted reading through her textbooks as she waited, but for some reason, she felt awfully uninterested in her studies.

She stood up, dusted off her skirt, and made her way down the stands as she stood in the centre of the court. The large room was dead silent. She walked towards the basketball, rolled it around under her foot, and then bent over to retrieve it. She sandwiched the ball between her hands and imagined it to be Akashi's head. The thought amused her as she bounced it a few times using both her hands. She had observed the boys playing so often during the week that she raised the ball, balancing it on the tips of her fingers and sprung forward.

It arched gracefully, inclining before suddenly dipping at some point and then falling through the net. She was surprised at her ability to score just for a moment. She retrieved the ball again and repeated the shot. It went in perfectly. She stood further away and did the same thing again. She bounced the ball a few more times for fun and turned around, making her way to the stands and threw the ball over her shoulder to nowhere particular.

'Shinako...' the voice startled her.

She turned around, staring at the ball as the redhead bounced it a few times on the ground, and frowned. He was still the one person she didn't want to see, but being in his territory for the past few days, she had accepted their meeting would be inevitable.

'Play one-on-one with me.'

She stared at him blankly for a moment until he suddenly threw the ball at her. She caught it, thankfully avoiding yet another horrific turn of events, and threw it back just as forcefully. To her disappointment he caught it effortlessly, dribbling the ball at the center of the court.

She watched him, trying not to admire his skill with slight difficulty, and retraced her steps down the stand. She tried to imagine how this would work, considering they were both attired in their school uniforms and it was already past 17.00. Shinako removed her gray blazer and threw it over a nearby bench, standing at the centre of the court just three feet away from Akashi.

He bounced the ball toward her and she caught it, holding it in her hands unsure of what to do next. 'Score.' he simply said, and Shinako stood on her toes, rising as she threw the ball into the air over his head, but felt his hand smack away at the shot.

The palm of her hand burned, but she didn't have enough time to react to the pain. Akashi stole the ball, running behind her as he raised his arm and threw the ball into the opposite net. It went in with a distinct sound, thudding on the ground again where she managed to reach it, but once again, he smacked it out of her hand.

'16-0,' he announced after the fifteen minutes they played for, standing triumphantly with the ball on his fingertips.

Shinako doubled over in exhaustion. She had watched how tiring the sport was during the past few days with the first years, but she never knew it was _this_ bad. Not to mention she totally underestimated the short Akashi's abilities in the sport. She didn't want to admit it, but he had extremely farfetched skills for someone of his build. She would have never expected him to be in the least athletic. Nothing about his physique - his small frame and lacking height - gave away the fact that he was such a skilled player.

'Shinako, you're incredibly unfit. You need to increase your stamina,' he pointed down at her, 'you don't give yourself enough cognitive breaks. This is why you're so fatigued.'

As expected of the team's captain, Shinako was not surprised by the awful lot he knew about health and exercise. She just never knew he was capable of producing so many words in a sentence. And what was with that underlying motherly tone he used? She was tempted slightly - only slightly - to comment on this, but decided against it as he continued on about her planning an exercise timetable.

Not that she was going to make one anyway. She always hated following eating timetables, and the same went for exercise ones.

'Without a plan you will never win.'

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello again, minna-san! ^/^ I want to thank all the people so far that have reviewed this story, ah, your words really motivated me to update! Remember, __**feedback**__ is fabulous, mmkay! And YOU are fabulous for reviewing/fav'ing/following this fan-fiction! Stay tuned for next time! ;D_

_BTW, Kotaro actually derived the name 'Aka-nee' for Shinako from her underlying 'older sibling' tendencies despite the fact that she's a year younger than them. And 'aka'... well... you know where that's from. XD_


	8. Chapter 8

Somehow the one-on-one match with Akashi (which happened only a few weeks ago) had landed Shinako in a position she never imagined she would be in. _Ever_.

She was sitting in the field on one of the benches, tearing her lunch in half as she offered Eikichi the other and he merrily reached for it.

'Ah, thanks Shin,' he mumbled, stuffing the entire half into his large mouth and Kotaro whined.

'Ne, ne, Aka-nee, why do you only share your lunch with this gorilla!'

'Hayama, you could have always asked.'

'But _he _didn't!'

_'Yare, yare_,' Reo joined the group, handing Eikichi a handful of wrapped lunches, and he took them happily.

'Shin-chan, tomorrow is your turn to buy stuff,' Reo retrieved a cling-wrapped roll from Eikichi's stack of goods and tapped her on the head with it.

She stared at him blankly, chewing on her lunch. 'You didn't have to remind me about that...'

Kotaro's eyes widened with life. 'Oh, oh, let me give you a list of all the stuff I want.'

She had never been around such energetic people before. She honestly never would have even imagined this sort of development with the guys, but now that she was actually given the chance to get to know them better (despite how cold she was at first), she found them a pretty entertaining bunch whose company she enjoyed.

She reached for the can of energy drink beside her as she helped Kotaro put some of the usual things down. She pushed the top down and it hissed on opening. She was about to take a sip before the can was snatched away.

She looked up quickly, frowning at the person responsible. 'Hey...!'

Akashi towered her. His head blocked the sun and he frowned back at her in response sullenly. 'Shinako, what did I tell you about energy drinks?'

She groaned inwardly as his motherly nature kicked in and he tilted the can over, emptying the contents into the grass. He handed her a bottle of water instead and she twisted open the cap, gulping down a quarter of it.

During the past few weeks as well, instead of learning as much basketball as she could from none other than the Akashi, she had also - in that time - learned that he was not as intimidating as he at first seemed. She had constantly been on guard, waiting for the moment he snapped again and pulled out a pair of scissors on her like the last time, but in the court, he was a surprisingly civil individual. He was mature and exhibited all sorts of qualities befitting a leader.

When she first found out about his psychotic tendencies (from Natsume that afternoon in the library), Shinako wondered how the boy slept at night. The whole idea of piecing together habits and attributes of his into a personality gave her completely ludicrous outcomes. And ever since the day he had chopped off all her beloved hair, she grew a burning animosity towards him.

However over time, the intense feelings of anger toward him had dissipated. _Vanished_. Into thin air.

'Shinako, your footwork is sloppy,' he would often comment as he worked with the first years. 'Bend your elbows. Keep your fingers up. Keep your thumbs a fair distance from one another when you catch the ball. Exude confidence. Spread your legs. Don't stand so straight. You're lagging behind.'

Not even Natsume could believe Shinako was actually still in the club even after all this. 'You're a big _tsundere_, Shin-chan,' she commented, pointing a finger at her teasingly.

Shinako harrumphed. She was glad she still got the time to spend with Natsume as they worked on improving her maths, as this also now served as her new study break. Basketball was taking out a lot more of her life than she had expected.

* * *

_**A/N**__: There's a reason for this short chapter, so worry not, dear reader! ;D ALSO, I've drawn Shinako - before and after her haircut - so you can check it out on my deviantART. My username is _safva

_**Feedback**__ is precious, mmkay! And YOU are precious for following/fav'ing/reviewing this story! _


	9. Chapter 9

It was the last day of the first term as Shinako made her way to the gymnasium. The summer holidays had come around awfully fast, and during the time in-between, Shinako had managed to still keep her grade aggregate above 95 and her basketball was improving at a steady pace.

She retreated to the change rooms at the back, dressing out of her uniform and into her gym clothes as she arrived back in the court. She had heard rumours earlier in the day of practice being cancelled, but showed up anyway for club activities since Natsume had announced she would be leaving early; hence she was relieved of the task of tutoring her for the duration of the summer holiday.

She stretched - starting from her legs moving up to her shoulders and arms - and jogged a few laps around the court. Breathing heavily, she moved to grab the basketball from the centre of the room. She bounced it a few times, getting used to the feel of the ball before shooting some hoops.

'Shinako,' the voice; as usual; startled her.

She turned around, watching as Akashi walked toward her from the other side of the court in his uniform, and dropped his bag on the bench. 'Play one-on-one with me.'

They had somehow made the activity ritual. Akashi would in most cases give Shinako the ball to start with; however in that case, he would retrieve it again without much effort. The matches usually frustrated her. Despite how hard she trained over the last month being in the club, she still couldn't use her skills to her advantage.

That was it. Akashi played basketball just like he played shogi. He allowed his opponent no openings. He exuded confidence in his overwhelming intimidation.

And as much as Shinako tried, she could not fathom a way around his skill.

They had been playing for 30 minutes. 32-14. Well it was definitely an improvement. Even though she was tired from running so much during the game, she definitely hadn't felt as exhausted as she did the first time they played against each other like this.

She gathered from his position as point guard on the team that he was the most skilled at running. His sharp eyes were also the important tool in more serious matches, where she couldn't help take great notice of his ability to point out ridiculous details (there was even an instance when her shoelace was on the verge of untying, and he pointed this out to her, also giving her further detail that she could have injured her ankle rather badly if not the problem was sorted).

She despised how visibly conscious he was of her every single move. She wondered often what possibly got under the man's skin, but then only the thought of speaking against him had come to mind. And then the _he-cut-my-hair-with-a-pair-of-scissors_ incident... she cringed at the thought. Even though she was dying a little - only a little - on the inside to beat him at something, she knew she couldn't expect a civil response out of him thereafter.

'You're not concentrating,' he said in an awfully accusing tone as he stole the ball from Shinako's hands.

She turned around, outstretching her arm for the ball again and winced as her ankle twisted mid-action. She lost balance, falling on her derriere painfully as her palms went flat on the ground simultaneously. Her ankle throbbed horridly and when she put her fingers against the inflamed area, she recoiled just as quickly.

'Ouch...' she winced, frowning in agony as she tested the leg.

She pretended to stand, applying pressure to her ankle as she folded her leg, but the pain was too much. 'Don't strain it; you'll make it worse.'

She looked up at Akashi as he knelt to her level, holding her leg gently just above the swollen area. She groaned uncontrollably at his cold touch against the inflamed skin as he inspected her sprained ankle.

The events that followed confused Shinako greatly. Just when she had imagined she got the redhead's personality right, she was suddenly proved wrong in this aspect when he threatened her to relax and stay seated for the ankle to seize swelling. She had a good thought in mind to say something against his horribly bossy attitude, but paired with his glaring was a threat somewhere along the lines of: '_disobey me and I'm going to make you regret it'_.

Not to mention how he had walked away thereafter as if she were capable of standing on her own! Ah, the rage that made her nerve-endings flare! If it weren't for how far away the basketball was from her, she would have thrown it at the back of his head and laughed when the two empty spheres made contact.

* * *

_The scissors._ It was the only thing she could think of every time she had attended the short basketball sessions that were held over the summer holidays when Reo and Kotaro would goad her into joining their mock game. She had been prohibited by Akashi the following day during practice to engage in any strenuous activities. Instead she was only required to attend the sessions... for whatever reason though, she was unsure of, considering how useless her presence there would be.

Instead she would turn her attention to her study notes. And when skimming through her maths textbook would seize to hold her attention for long, she would instead turn to the shogi board in the clubroom.

Ah, the memory attached to that board. She couldn't help but ponder over how wrong she had been to ever think the boy was perhaps even slightly human. He had a ridiculously unpredictable personality for someone who could predict everything, which in turn, baffled Shinako. Over time being in the club, she had been thinking of things she could possibly better the fellow at. Grades were out of the picture. Nobody could score over a 100% grade aggregate; however the thought never left her mind of somehow achieving an equal rank in that respect.

Then there was basketball. She honestly didn't have that much interest in the sport to want to improve at it, and she knew she wouldn't find any sort of enjoyment in surprising the Akashi when it came to his sport.

But then Reo had mentioned something rather peculiar one day when they sat together on the field; of course, in the absence of their captain, that is. She had mentioned her plan to him (with slight difficulty in bringing up the subject) when she decided she could trust his views and opinions on the matter (even though she could have done without his help).

'What? You want to beat Sei-chan at something? Shin-chan, I'm sorry to say this, but that's just a waste of time.'

Shinako's eyes narrowed. 'Mibuchi, explain yourself.'

Reo's eyes widened, showing genuine surprise at Shinako's puzzlement. 'Sei-chan doesn't lose. He never, _ever _loses. To _anybody _at _anything_.'

He said it so _matter-of-fact-ly_ that Shinako couldn't help but feel the vein on her forehead pulse slightly... Only slightly though. 'That's so stupid. None of what you said makes any sense at all.'

Reo gave her a level look. It was odd seeing him making even slightly serious expressions considering how laid-back he usually always was about things. 'It's a fact. He's a genius... But then again, you're a genius too, huh.'

She didn't comment on this observation of his, and instead harrumphed a response. He chuckled at her. 'Well, I suppose I could let you in on a little something,' his smile became a little wider, 'if you beat him at shogi, that'll definitely prove something to him, however I highly doubt this. Although remember that time you whacked him across the face? Ha-ha, backhand? That was the first time I ever saw him so surprised! And then when you swore him, ha-ha, I couldn't believe how sullied he was.'

His words were peculiar indeed! Even now that she dwelled on what he'd said to her that day, none of it seemed to aid her in her quest of finding a suitable field to crush the Akashi in. And unable to remove the gnawing question from her mind, the thought in turn made her grow immensely vexed.

She re-arranged the chess pieces on either side neatly and as if on cue, the redhead entered the classroom. Shinako was unsure if this too was perhaps a ritual of theirs like the one-on-one basketball matches. However she could only imagine he challenged her in shogi because he enjoyed the victory. And considering she was unable to play the sport, he resorted to the board game to make up for their habitual game on the court.

Shinako had taken great care in dissecting his tactics in shogi. She sub-consciously noted his moves in the game and on few occasions attempted them herself; however the games would still be in favor of the Akashi.

'Let's play again,' he announced on winning the first match after 35 minutes, and moved to re-arranging the board when he noted her apathetic response to his victory.

Somehow he would have found playing against her easier if perhaps she reacted to his winning streak. However she simply sat with calculating eyes, taking in every detail of the board game. It was completely unlike the first time they had played against one another, whereas she actually spent more time considering her moves, but lost within only a matter of time.

He could sense her improvement; however his predictions of her skill level still remained. She still hadn't proved problematic and she never will in future... However the next day, Akashi found himself somehow questioning this assumption.

* * *

**_A/N_**_: Hello once again, minna-san! ^.^ I hope you're all enjoying the fan-fiction so far, and I want to thank the few people that have dropped off some lovely reviews for me. Ah, what a pleasure it was to read such things! __**Feedback**__ is my motivation. YOU are my motivation for following/fav'ing/reviewing this story!_

_Also, in response to _Boxenofdonuts_ review: the haiku's I've used in the story so far are not my own, hence I've placed credit where it is due after every short compilation. The '5 7 5' pattern is in fact a Western means of constructing haiku, as the Japanese do not have the same 'syllable' structure. I've taken the haikus from a published book, and I have not adjusted the construction in any way. The translations directly from Japanese will always however be very different from the raw poem itself, yet I'm in no position to translate these wonderful works myself. ^.^_

_'_A haiku is a short Japanese poem, mostly of just three lines, often capturing the fleeting moment in a spirit of Zen-like immediacy - the falling of a plum blossom, the splash of a frog as it leaps into a pond._' - as quoted by Tom Lowenstein who explains this magnificently in his novel 'Haiku Inspirations'. :) I hope this explanation is sufficient!_


	10. Chapter 10

_'Check_.' it was her third time issuing the word.

Akashi frowned at the shogi board, boring holes into it as he observed her tactics. At first he was certain he predicted her every move. He read through each action she took, pin-pointing the precise blocks she would place each of her pieces in until suddenly she had moved her single knight instead of what he imagined would be her pawn.

He overlooked the miscalculation however and continued with his plan, until she moved the rook forward. The knight she previously played had been used as a means of misdirection.

On realizing the thought behind her actions, he instantly changed his means of strategy. He switched to offense, using his king to full advantage as it remained at a safer side on the board, and cut her last pawn.

He was certain of his inching victory by now, however his relief was short-lived. She had suddenly caught on to his style of gameplay and in turn copied his tactics, switching to offense as well. She had dropped the pawn that stood a block away from his king, allowing her the pleasure of issuing the word _check_ on the subsequent turn.

And suddenly, she had repeated the word a third time. The game had been decided with a threefold repetition, hence ending in a draw.

Shinako watched as Akashi scrutinized the board with his heterochromatic eyes. She was expecting him to flip the board over and produce a pair of scissors from beneath the chaotic mess of shogi pieces, but instead he still managed to appear content if not for the furrow in his brow.

For a moment as she watched him, she wondered what it could have possibly been that turned the tables this time as they played. Perhaps it was the change of environment. Usually they would play within the dark and musty confines of the basketball clubroom, but today she had brought the game to the court, and it was after the afternoon training session when he had joined her.

_Two primary moons_

_The child has eyes like._

_Oh! The kite falls._

She was greatly surprised by how suddenly she had managed to think up of a haiku at the top of her head. Perhaps it was the relaxed silence that had befallen them as they sat alone, across from one another in the basketball court. Or the genuinely calculating eyes he made as he stared down at the shogi pieces. Or the child flying an orange kite in the distance on the other side of the field.

... Or perhaps at how intently the Akashi stared at her as she glanced out through the wire-mesh fence lost in thought.

He stood up when she noticed him staring, and Shinako couldn't help but suddenly feel her cheeks redden. _What was that?_

'Let's go,' he said, adjusting the strap of his tog bag over his shoulder as he turned to leave.

Shinako followed not far behind him. She lagged behind, considering she was forced with the task of packing away the shogi board along with it's smaller components. Then too was she thankfully reminded of how inconsiderate the redhead ahead of her was. He hadn't even slowed down for her catch up to him. Ah, how despicable the Akashi was indeed!

'Shinako, wait here,' he stopped at the front of a convenience store, waiting for her to catch up.

She huffed, struggling to walk any faster since her ankle suddenly began throbbing again from the strain. However she refused to show any signs of discomfort. Akashi though glanced at her foot once - still looking awfully apathetic - and extended his bag, making sure it was properly placed on Shinako's shoulder, and left.

She swore if she were in any better condition to whack him with the bloody bag. _The rubbish_! She was appalled by his behaviour, once again reminded of how painfully vexing it was to deal with his incredibly strange personality, and had a good mind to roll the bag around in the dirt and laugh maniacally as she did it.

However her thoughts were disrupted when something solid knocked into the shoulder that held onto Akashi's bag. It dropped, thudding to the floor before grazing her already injured ankle, and she winced.

'Hey, you're standing in the way,' the guy who knocked into her grumbled, now standing in front of her as he came into better view.

She glowered at him. She wasn't in the mood to argue with the brainless, and if it weren't for him approaching her considering _he_ was the one at fault, she would have perhaps let it slide. Not to mention he dropped the heavy bag on her ankle and that it was at this point hurting like crazy.

'Clearly you need to have your eyes checked then. The pavement's awfully wide for the two of us, don't you think?'

The guy's frown deepened. 'What did you say?'

He stepped forward with a rather hostile expression on his face, and Shinako flinched. As much as she wanted to recoil, her injured ankle flared up again, and she found herself glued to the spot in pain. She braced herself.

But the guy hadn't gotten any closer. Instead he only looked immensely unnerved by something, and then Shinako felt a weight on her head.

'Do you have some business with my Shinako?'

She could feel the rumble of his voice course through her body as his chest rested against the back of her head. The weight on her head was in fact his chin as he placed it in her hair, staring directly at the guy who at this point was reduced to a speechless state. His lips moved and he formed some incoherent sentence before scowling and straightening up again.

'Whatever,' he mumbled, backing away considerably from them.

Akashi maneuvered his hands around the shape of her torso, placing his arms over her mid-section securely and felt her shudder at his touch.

'Know your place.' he said - his voice a low growl that made his words hard to discern - and the guy's expression darkened.

'And who the hell do you think you are to tell me that?'

Akashi stepped forward, and even though he stood a few inches shorter than the guy, their height difference somehow intensified the intimidating aura that radiated from him. Shinako watched in shock as they faced one another in silence. It were as if killing intent shot right through the guy with Akashi's glares, and another second later, he turned off and disappeared down the sidewalk.

Shinako couldn't deny that what just happened was scary. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the redhead was still notorious in her eyes for being frisky with his pair of scissors, and she wondered for a moment if perhaps he had his weapon ready in case anything more were to happen between them.

'Shinako, are you alright?'

She was certain it was the first time he had ever asked her a question. He had never before asked her about her conditions, and now that he did, she felt incredibly awkward as she attempted balancing her weight on her bad leg.

She wobbled, and certain she couldn't stand on it because of how painfully the inflamed ankle throbbed, she returned to her former position of uncomfortably balancing on one leg. 'No. I don't think so.'

Akashi blinked at her. 'Try walking.'

She stared at him, quite distressed at how calmly he addressed her current physical state, and kept her hand against the wall. 'It's pretty painful.'

Akashi grabbed his bag from the floor, slinging it over his shoulder as he reached out and took hers from under her arm. He walked a few feet away from her and turned around again to face her, putting his single hand out as he beckoned her forward.

'Walk towards me.'

She felt horribly inadequate at that point as she stared at his open hand. She didn't know what kind of sadistic game he was playing at here, but she knew that with him, she couldn't argue. Instead of fighting back, she took in a deep breath and stumbled forward, keeping her hands against the wall as she used it to steady herself. She moved slowly at first, and after a good amount of small steps, made the grave mistake of overestimating herself and fell forward.

Instead of the ground, something warm and strong invited her instead. She looked up, staring directly into his multi-coloured eyes as he stared back, and something hot accumulated on her cheeks despite how much she fought back the embarrassing expression.

'Hold onto me.' he ordered.

As much as Shinako wanted to defy him regardless of her helpless situation, she couldn't pull away. She knew she wouldn't be able to walk without some sort of support, and even though her mind was pre-occupied with the pain in her foot, she couldn't help but let the boy take over the rest of her thoughts as they walked.

She couldn't understand the sudden bout of affection he showed her. It were almost as if he was a completely different person. After the incident with the man outside the convenience store, he didn't exude an air of power and control. There was nothing intimidating about him. He just seemed so ordinary. So normal.

He was so unlike the Akashi she knew that for a moment she wondered if perhaps he also suffered from a multiple personality disorder apart from psychosis. Or perhaps even bipolar disorder. She couldn't tell. All she knew was that there were 2 extremes to his personality and he was as unpredictable as a swan.

'Thanks...' she mumbled; her eyes softening against her own will.

* * *

She couldn't help but feel flustered as she walked leaning against him. He led the way, and she somehow felt at ease simply following because she secretly enjoyed the warmth he offered her shoulder as it pressed against his side.

They walked for about 10 minutes when Akashi came to a stop abruptly. Shinako had been dozing off as they walked, unconsciously leaning against him for support whenever she lost consciousness, and when he stopped walking, it startled her.

'Shinako, wake up,' he said, glancing down at her as she rubbed her eyes and without thinking, evened her weight on both feet.

She winced, recoiling as her ankle throbbed horribly. 'Ouch...' she bit her lip, frowning deeply at the pain as her eyes adjusted to the small Japanese house in front of her.

Her eyes widened. It was her grandfather's house. 'Um... How do you know where I live?'

Akashi smirked. It was an expression she didn't often see on his face. 'I know everything.'

She was tempted to roll her eyes, but instead she just stared at him blankly. She didn't question his methods in case he had a sharp weapon on him. _Hah_. The entire hair-cutting ordeal certainly scarred her now and probably would for the rest of her life.

'Thank you, Akashi.'

'You will call me Seijuro.'

She stared at him blankly for a little longer before feeling horribly self-conscious again. Her cheeks burned, and she squirmed a little beneath his waiting gaze. The cheek! He actually had the audacity to give her permission to call him by his first name, and yet he had somehow made it a habit to call her by hers!

'Don't tell me what to do,' she huffed, taking back her gratitude as she let go of his arm.

She turned for the gate and suddenly felt him yank her back by the arm. Her ankle throbbed horribly in the process and she squeaked in response to the pain despite not wanting to show signs of weakness to the likes of him.

'Bad girl,' he growled, grabbing her chin roughly as he pulled her face towards his.

She could feel his hot breath on her lips and shuddered at the sensation it left behind. She stared into his eyes, suddenly terrified of him even though she never wanted to admit it, and wondered what of hers he would cut up next.

But instead, his other hand moved to the side of her neck where he put his fingers through her chopped hair and stroked the roughly-cut edges. She calmed down considerably when she realized both his hands were occupied already and that he had no intention of hurting her.

She remained silent, simply staring directly into his red and yellow eyes, and they twinkled with amusement when he suddenly smiled. He leaned forward even closer to her, pressing his hands against her hot face, and bit her bottom lip.

Shinako winced; her face beet red from what happened just a second ago, and she was filled with an odd mixture of both humiliation and ferocity. She wanted to punch him in the face again, but suddenly felt far too embarrassed to move. She could almost feel steam pluming out of her ears, and her cheeks felt as if they were melting. It was an extremely uncomfortably sensation she wanted to get rid of as soon as possible, however the smile on Akashi's face only grew by her reaction.

'S...,' she felt weak in the knees. Her legs threatened to give way and her heart throbbed in the most uncomfortable of ways. _'Seijuro_.'

_He beckons_

_Even the wind_

_With his fan._

_- Sugiki Moichi_


	11. Chapter 11

That night, he had left her standing in front of her house in the warm evening, still feeling prickly all over her body and extremely dazed.

_What in the world just happened?_ She had asked herself several times over again, and wondered if perhaps the Akashi's psychosis was rubbing off on her. She was freezing on the inside and burning on the out. Every inch of her skin that he touched seemed to jolt to life every time she recalled the incident, and ever since that night, she had developed an uncontrollable rage for the boy. How his actions degraded her! He hadn't even stayed a second longer after stripping her of her dignity, and on realizing again what a cold individual he was after all, Shinako could only fume at his quiet departure.

Ah, how she burned!

After that one summer night, she had entered her room with a new burning determination as she retired to her studies. She would make sure she crushed the Akashi no matter what. She couldn't let him take her for a pushover. She was intent on fighting back, and satisfied with her resolve, she had bought herself over half a dozen cans of energy drinks and drank them all within a matter of 2 days.

'Shin-chan, that's amazing!' Natsume cried, staring in awe at her notebook.

Shinako harrumphed, brushing off her friend's praises as she sped-worked through the sums in her textbook. It was already the third week of school after the summer holidays, and Shinako had taken a sudden interest in planning a study timetable. Despite how much she actually disliked planning her weekly schedule, she knew she had to utilize the enemy's skills in order to beat him at what he was best at.

In return, she had given less time to basketball and played a lot more shogi than she ever thought she was capable of. She practiced often with her grandfather on the weekends as well, urging him to teach her every possible strategy he knew. And in turn, she had gotten so good at the board game that even her grandfather at times would forfeit the match.

'Ooh, you scored higher than Akashi-san!' Natsume continued, ogling at Shinako's marked examination as it sat beside her on the desk.

Indeed, the determination that night had done wonders! She had studied so hard and attended so many cram school sessions that she even shocked the grade when she achieved higher scores than her redhead nemesis.

'Ah, yeah,' Natsume's eyes widened, 'all this studying reminds me, Shin-chan, we should totally go to the Gion Matsuri!'

Shinako raised her head. She stared at Natsume intently on clutching her pencil, using her other hand to erase the calculations on the side of her page. The Gion Matsuri festival... One of the most famous annual festivals in Japan that took place in Kyoto in Autumn. 'I don't have a yukata...' she mumbled sullenly.

Natsume gasped, slamming her hands down on the table for emphasis. 'What, what, _what_!? Shin-chan, are you really Japanese?'

Shinako ignored Natsume's squealing as she spoke about their plan to later in the day visit the market (without her friend's consent of course), and after school, that was what they had done indeed.

* * *

The weekend - which followed a day after their shopping trip hastily - was where Shinako found herself standing outside her house. She waited sullenly, constantly adjusting the deep amethyst yukata she wore. If it weren't for Natsume's hawk eyes as they entered the store the other day, she would have chosen a bright yellow of some sorts to make her eyes stand out, but the girl had complained her taste was far too... _Bland_.

'You probably don't have any ridiculous colours in your closet. Be a bit more unpredictable and spontaneous, Shin-chan!' and then added in a ridiculously cheesy pose with her thumbs up, 'like me!'

She shifted uncomfortably in the streetlight, adjusting her hair every now and again. The dark purple - to her surprise - did in fact compliment her ruby hair; however she was still unsure if it did justice to her golden eyes. It wasn't like her to feel self-conscious. However being out of her element was an extremely unnerving thing, and she couldn't help but suddenly regret ever agreeing to Natsume's silly request to join her in visiting the Autumn festival.

... Then again, she _did_ enjoy the girl's company despite how little she showed her gratitude. 'Ah, there's my beautiful date!'

Shinako whipped her head around, staring in shock at the high-pitched cry. 'N-Natsume, what...!' she flushed.

The girl's pigtails bounced as she fluttered towards Shinako, grinning brightly. She wore a white kimono, decorated with dragonfly prints, and adorned the dull outfit with a lavender obi.

'Shin-chan, you look amazing...,' she smiled genuinely, scrutinizing Shinako as she shifted awkwardly beneath the girl's gaze. 'Although we need to do something about that hair.'

Shinako had gathered by now that arguing with Natsume was pointless. No matter how often she told the girl not to do something, she would never listen. Ever. And this time around, it was no different. She stood behind Shinako, clumping her hair together neatly, and twisted the short layers before sticking a hairpin into the back.

Of course Shinako hadn't expected them to attend the festival without Natsume's usual groupies hanging around her so often. Although the girl seemed quite surprised to see her classmates, Shinako could only watch - standing outside the large group that circled her friend - as they pulled Natsume along with them.

'Aha-ha-ha. Oo-hoo-hoo.' It was Natsume's society laugh.

And every time that more sociable side of her surfaced, Shinako knew that being around the girl would only in turn spoil her fun. Despite how much she tried to convince her redhead friend to join the group, Shinako rejected her request and threatened her that if she didn't go with them and enjoy herself, she would leave the festival...

... And yet as she walked alone through the dimly-lit aisles of the make-shift stalls in the streets, she couldn't help but feel awfully secluded. Not to mention suddenly how her stomach growled. She knew she wouldn't survive long without getting something to eat, and found a ramen stall. She waited in the line, craning her neck as she stared at the long line with concern, and wondered if perhaps she should instead by snacks.

She groaned inwardly, ready to step out of the line, when suddenly a voice caught her attention: 'Shinako.'

She turned around, unable to place the voice as quickly as she would have liked, and stared wide-eyed at a boy dressed in a dark blue yukata. Her eyes trailed further up when she found herself staring directly at the boy's face, and instantly placed his geranium hair and heterochromatic eyes.

She hadn't expected to see Akashi so soon after initiating his academic defeat. And once again - just like every other time she had seen his face after that one summer evening - her cheeks burned and her heart squeezed uncomfortably. No matter how much she had scolded her feelings to behave, the reaction to seeing him was suddenly like second nature. Like breathing. And now that she was right in front of him reacting this way to his presence, she couldn't help but feel awfully embarrassed.

'S-Seijuro, I didn't expect to see you here...' she could have kicked herself for saying something so bloody spontaneous.

Her words grew a smile on his face, and the expression only made her heart race a mile a minute. She didn't know why she was acting this overly hormonal around the boy. And her confusion in regard to her frenzy of emotions vexed her.

'Are you hungry?' he suddenly asked, catching her off-guard.

Shinako frowned. She simply could not - for the life of her - ever get used to the boy's ludicrous ability to mind read. 'I'm currently getting something to eat.'

She mentally cursed at how long the line was. It would possibly take her another 10 minutes - roughly - to get to the front, and she felt humiliated by how blankly the Akashi stared at her in response to his question.

'Shinako, do you want to share this with me?'

She was so busy trying to keep her flurry of emotions in check that she didn't notice the steaming bowl of ramen he held in his hands... And if it were not for the awfully polite way he asked her that question, she was certain she would have said _no_. 'Sure.'

As expected, the redhead had given her the entire bowl, thereafter claiming he was not in the least hungry. Shinako didn't complain. She finished her meal and later on felt incredibly content.

It was also a while later as they walked when she had discovered he in fact arrived here with the seniors of the basketball team. She imagined how this looked for a minute. Eikichi sitting at an eatery, working the culinary staff to death with his ridiculously massive appetite. Kotaro chatting away non-stop to the people around him as he tried grabbing their attention by flaunting his skills at a ballgame somewhere. And Reo, walking about calmly with a toffee apple in one hand and candy floss in the other as he attracted a fair amount of girls and agreed to take photographs with them.

She couldn't help but smile at how accurately she imagined what they would be doing at this point in the festival. She was so pre-occupied with her thoughts that she failed to notice Akashi staring at her as they walked beside one another.

'You didn't come here alone either.' He stated, turning his attention back to the path they walked.

Shinako harrumphed a response. 'That's none of your concern.'

It wasn't like it bothered him anyway. He knew the reason behind why she was alone already, although he would only be wasting his breath by stating the obvious.

'Come.' he simply said, enclosing her wrist with one hand and she stumbled behind him.

He tuned out her complaints when they stopped just outside a teriyaki store. He bought her one, and even though she hesitated to accept his offer, took the gift anyway and thanked him. He then dragged her to catch goldfish with the paper contraption, and when she refused to take the fish, he only answered: 'I have no need for pets'... Well what about her insinuated she had a "_need_" for them?

They then visited a game stall where Akashi had bemusedly '_argued'_ with the store owner that he only missed a single hoop to get the ball in for a prize, and with his intimidating personality, utilized it to win a small stuffed animal (which he once again placed on the pile of gifts already in Shinako's hands despite her protests).

* * *

It was later into the evening when Shinako had found it difficult to walk anymore. The straw sandals she wore with the yukata cut the skin between her toes, but before she could attend to her feet, Akashi had taken great notice of it before she did.

'Shinako,' he articulated her name perfectly, 'come here.'

He pulled her aside to a half wall, made her sit on it quietly, and raised her legs one after the other to remove the straw sandals. She couldn't help but feel incredibly self-conscious as he did this with the amount of looks she got from the people that walked by. She still couldn't get used to this side of Akashi.

'Thank you,' she mumbled, standing on her bare feet as she took the shoes from his hand.

They continued on the path. Shinako held her shoes in one hand against her side, and struggled with the gifts Akashi had earlier given her in the other. She wasn't sure how she would manage to carry them home later, but decided to think about that when the time came.

A stall caught her eye as they walked, and she stopped in her tracks to take in more detail. Wooden placards decorated all sides of the store, and as she walked closer to it, had she realized the long pieces were actually blank. When she asked the stall owner about his business, he had enthusiastically explained to her that the placards were in fact blank bookmarks. The customers had the option of choosing what to write on them, or they could request a writing done by the store's poet, and it would be inked into the bookmark along with the colour ribbon of their choice.

'Ah, I'll have two please,' she said, picking fairly dark-coloured woods for the bookmarks, and requested the poet's words.

Akashi stood beside her, watching as she spoke with enthusiasm to the store owner about the bookmarks, and when he disappeared to have them done, he couldn't help but notice how relaxed she looked. He extended one hand and touched the back of her neck, noting how she instantly tensed by his touch. He moved his fingers into her tied hair, removing the hair clip as the vermilion layers touched her shoulders. As if on cue, she turned her head and stared at him with softened eyes. Ah, that expression. He couldn't stand how beautiful she looked like that, and all he honestly wanted to do was pull her by her saffron hair and let no one else see that sort of look that she gave him.

She was his. Only his possession and he would make sure no one else would have her. 'Seijuro...' she whispered, and just the image of her parting lips made him want to lose restraint.

But all he did was pull her against him and stroke the side of her neck, and with his fingertips, felt how her pulse quickened. He smiled.

The stall owner returned a moment afterwards, presenting Shinako with the two wooden bookmarks, and she reached out for them in exchange for the money. She flipped them right side down, and held one in each hand out toward Akashi. He gave them a once-over, and with calculating eyes as if he were deciding which piece to move in shogi, took the one from her right hand.

Shinako scrolled down the small, neat writing with her eyes and read:

_*In the silence of the snow_

_The peahen waits,_

_With melting eyes_

She smiled at the haiku, and turned. 'Seijuro, what does yours say?'

Akashi huffed a response, and smiling, he slipped the bookmark into his yukata and placed a single finger on his lips. 'It's a secret.'

* * *

**_A/N_**_: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I want to take some space here to thank all you lovely people for dropping off such pleasant reviews for me. :) Ah, how motivating are your words! _

_* I wrote this haiku myself! :D_

_In response to _Boxenofdonuts_ second review: I don't understand the specifics in regard to haiku poem structures, however the haikus that I've used in this story (the ones I've given credit to) are in fact very old, and date back to the 1800's. However your point about a haiku adding up to exactly 17 syllables is correct. Perhaps the Japanese haikus differ in this regard because of the fact that a Japanese haiku is meant to be expressed in one breath. So in English, that usually means the poem will be 10 to 14 syllables long. _

_It's just that the haikus I've used thus far were written by Japanese poets of another time, and there really isn't much I can explain about it because I'm not a professional in the field. :( I'm sorry if this doesn't explain much, but perhaps you can Google more information about it. ^.^_


	12. Chapter 12

Akashi stared at the class register with a considerable amount of confusion in his thin lips. Shinako was absent.

The day before however she seemed fine. She had attended practice as usual and when he had finally granted her permission to participate once more, she seemed rather motivated. Despite how odd the event was of taking in that she was not at school for the day, Akashi could not help but grow immensely curious.

It was the end of the school day when he had made sure all members of the basketball club had left the school. He took off home, taking an unusual direction and stopped outside the small condo where the word _Ashikaga_ was engraved into the stone fence.

He entered the gate, knocked on the front door, and waited.

If by the third knock she didn't answer, he would leave. And by the third knock, there was no response indeed.

He turned away, walked further down the road to the convenience store and stood at the entrance where he noticed the redhead. She had her hair in a tight bun at the back of her head. Scarlet strands escaped, somehow allowing her to still look neat, and she wore a thin jersey above a thin shirt along with a pair of dark jeans.

'Shinako,' he started, watching how startled his voice would make her that she noticeably tensed and stopped whatever she was doing mid-action, 'what are you doing here?'

He watched her turn around. She adjusted the pair of glasses on her nose, and blinked. One, two, _three_. Three times, like always. 'Are you following me, Seijuro?'

He smiled at the way his name sounded on her lips. Her tongue. How it escaped between her straight teeth. How they complimented her every word. 'I wouldn't bother with something as awfully petty as following you.'

Ah. As he predicted she was buying energy drinks. He had half expected her to put them away on seeing him, but his predictions fell on the opposite route. She huffed, openly taking the five cans of caffeinated drinks with her to the counter and removed the pair of glasses, setting them gently into a case. He watched her frail fingers. How well-kept her nails were. How neatly-folded her sleeves were around her wrists.

'Well, it was nice to see you...,' she paid for the goods, 'I suppose...' she added thereafter in an odd tone, and exited the store.

Akashi grabbed something from beside the cashier, paid for it, and followed behind her as she opened a can and the hiss reached his ears.

* * *

She walked into the house on arriving, and he followed a few steps behind her. He closed the door on entering last and retired to the cramped living room. A large bookcase had taken up most of the space in the house as an entirety. The place didn't even come across as a person's living quarters. It looked more like an office than anything else. Books. The excessive amount of... _Books_ described the home rather fittingly.

Akashi retrieved his textbooks from his bag and stacked them on the table. He watched Shinako return into the room from the side of his eye and noted she was now dressed in a large woolen jersey and a pair of shorts that complimented her stocking-clad legs. A wayward strand of ruby hair fell between her eyes.

She sat on the other side of the table and skimmed through the textbooks he produced from his bag a minute ago. 'Thanks,' she mumbled.

Akashi stared at her. 'Why were you absent?'

He didn't like asking questions. He trusted his judgment of individuals as much as he trusted his pair of school scissors. But there was something about asking questions that he found amusing when it came to the redhead girl. Perhaps it was her lack of emotion. Her unreadable expressions. Her blank responses.

'You needn't concern yourself with such details.' or perhaps it was her blatant disobedience.

It stirred something as hot as lava in him that just wanted to erupt every time she gave him those sorts of cheeky responses. 'Your grandfather.' he simply said, not wanting to tear his eyes from her, and there was the micro-expression he sought.

It was almost a flinch. 'He was admitted into hospital this morning. I couldn't make it to school.'

'You're not eating properly,' he stated after brief observation of the green veins beneath her milk skin as she pulled up the sleeves of her sweater.

She didn't make an attempt to respond to his statement, and he stood up from the floor. He walked into the open-plan kitchen. He folded his sleeves meticulously on either side and began to work. He could tell she watched him from behind as she worked on the examples he highlighted for her in the textbook, and on plating the meal, he placed the plate in front of her. Her eyes widened on seeing the good assortment of foods, however she hesitated to dig in.

He smiled. He liked responses. Especially ones from Shinako which were hard to get. 'I'm not planning on killing you... _Yet_.'

He could have laughed at the horrified expression she gave him. Instead he sat once again, watching her from the side of his eye as she ate the food he prepared slowly and her eyes softened with each bite. Those tender sorts of responses she made tickled him. They would often stir an odd mixture of things within his chest. Like the slight build-up of blood pressure. Or the sudden urge to do something physical. Or to just sit back and simply watch in expectancy of his first name spilling from her lips.

'Seijuro...,' ah, there it was, '_thank you_.'

He was poorly surprised at how broken her voice sounded with the last two words. He hadn't expected many words of her. He hadn't predicted she would say anything at all. But there it was. His name. Her words thereafter that shouldn't have been uttered with so much difficulty. He was certain she would cry. He could tell by her silence that her eyes burned and that she would soon lose control of her emotions, but... Nothing. There was nothing.

_Falling_

_So composedly!_

_The poppy._

_- Etsujin_


	13. Chapter 13

If Shinako had known that taking a trip to the convenience store for a handful of groceries would cost her a little more of her diminishing sanity, she would have rather stayed home and starved to death.

'Shin-chan, what a surprise to see you here!' Reo smiled, walking towards her as she took his approach with utmost nonchalance.

For some reason Shinako felt awfully suspicious about the third year appearing at first. And considering she was certain she saw Kotaro earlier in the store, assumed the two had perhaps very conveniently planned the _'coincidence'_.

She didn't bother with the details however and harrumphed a response to Reo's greeting. 'What brings you here, Mibuchi?'

She listened rather absent-mindedly to the boy's explanation of being requested by the team to purchase drinks. Shinako was mildly surprised at the fact that there was practice that Saturday morning, but waved off her concern as she walked to the counter and paid for her goods.

On seeing Reo's energetic departure, she stood in the spot, watching him disappear at a corner and deliberated visiting the court. But considering her grandfather was not home that morning, decided to follow not far behind Reo as she strolled to the public court.

It was surprisingly cold despite the odd seconds of sunlight that managed to escape through the gray clouds overhead. She wasn't sure whether the practice would do her any good, but decided to visit anyway since she had the time... And definitely not to see the redhead boy. Oh, definitely not.

On arriving at the recreational grounds, Shinako let herself into the court and walked the perimeter to the bench at the end. A few bags littered the small wooden seat, but Shinako had managed to gap between the pile of kits. She placed her own packet of goods on the floor beside her legs, further removing the sling bag from over her shoulder as she watched the few boy's that attended play in mixed teams against one another.

She glanced about the court; her eyes eventually settling on a bright colour she recognized. She felt slightly at ease the moment she spotted the Akashi as he had his back towards her, discussing something to one of the boy's and then returned to his original position.

It wasn't often that she had the chance to watch him play. She would usually always be playing against him or pre-occupied with other activities while he flaunted his natural skills on the court. The thought led to another more alarming one when she realized that she in fact did not know much about the boy. However she couldn't blame herself for constantly feeling so clueless about his likes and dislikes. There were two extremes to his personality she still could not for the life of her fathom, and this in turn comforted her in regard to his strange personality. She wasn't sure if she'd ever really find out (or if deep down she really wanted to know) what the boy was all about... Not in this lifetime at least.

'Oh, Aka-nee,' Kotaro called out, waving frantically as he ran towards her on the bench from the other side of the court, 'were you here all this time?'

Shinako stared at him blankly before answering: 'I suppose I was, Hayama.'

He didn't look bothered by her vague answer and directed his attention to the collection of bags around her on the bench. He watched in pleasant surprise at how comfortable Shinako had seemed to make herself around the bags. She reminded him of a cat who found a place of convenience to rest in a cramped house. Her shoes were taken off, lying underneath the bench as she placed her bare feet on the warm surface of the court, and he found that a relatively brilliant idea at the time. _Hah. _So she was a genius after all.

'I think you're sitting on my bag, Aka-nee.'

'Oh, sorry...,' she mumbled, shifting as she adjusted her position on the cramped bench.

She pulled out the bag from beneath her which in turn somehow wound up knocking off the last bag from the bench in a very domino-like fashion. She handed Kotaro his bag before walking over to the single one on the floor. She knelt to its level and heaved it by the straps; surprised at how heavy the thing really was; and her eyebrows rose as she heard something clatter to the floor.

Her eyes followed the distinct sound of wood, and she reached for the placard, holding it by the red string. She had meant to shove it back into the bag the moment she grabbed a hold of it, but her eyes quickly went over the black writing at the front that read:

_Frost on the chrysanthemums,_

_Melts and melts_

_And accumulates again._

The words baffled her greatly, but she decided against dwelling on the haiku the moment she realized she should have never in the first place even read it. As honest as a mistake it was, she couldn't help but feel a small pang of guilt jab in her side... Only a small pang, though.

She had every right - she felt - to know about the Akashi considering he knew almost everything about her. She wouldn't put it past the boy to even know her thought processes like the back of his hand. And yet how ever bizarre his way of doing things really seemed, she couldn't imagine him any other way.

To keep her mind anywhere from the damned Akashi, she turned her attention to the court once again. The sky had transformed in that time from an ashen gray to a stormy black. She watched as the number of players dwindled, each making their way towards the bench as they grabbed their kits and headed off.

Soon, even the third years had taken off, and she had the bench all to herself. The weather didn't look at all promising, and fearing perhaps a storm was due later on in the evening, Shinako was so pre-occupied with observing the rain clouds she didn't even notice the Akashi as he stood directly in front of her.

She only felt his warm fingers snake beneath her palms as he pulled her up gently from the bench. He tugged her forward and she stepped towards him as he guided her into stepping back into her shoes. Even though the action was so trivial, she couldn't help but feel her heart squeeze. She hated these sorts of bizarre bouts of affection he showed her.

'Are you stalking me, Shinako?'

His question sounded awfully familiar. 'I don't have the time to waste on something as petty as following you, Seijuro.'

And her answer was none the better! Just where had she heard these lines from before? She brushed off the incredibly nostalgic feeling however and kept in line with him as they walked out the court together.

She wasn't entirely sure where the boy was taking her, but she followed him considering she had nothing important to return home to. It was simply an empty house without her grandfather. The countless books were in turn nothing in his absence.

Shinako was so consumed in her thoughts that she barely took notice of the growing number of people around her. She glanced around, taking in her surroundings when she noted they were at the nearby mall. She never exactly took the boy for a sociable person... Then again, this backed-up the fact that she didn't know him very well.

'Did you need to buy something?' she asked, staring at the colourful shops they passed on entering the spacious center.

His face was blank. 'No.'

His simple answer made Shinako frown. She had no idea what he was up to, but followed him anyway as he walked into a clothing store. 'But you do, Shinako.'

* * *

At first, she felt absolutely _mortified _at even the idea of accepting the many articles of clothing he had hand-picked very carefully for her. She protested heavily against the idea of him actually shopping for her, and still in the process of trying to fathom just what gave surface to the boy's extreme motherly tendencies, had to fight back the incredible urge to dart for the mall exit.

It was embarrassing enough when he had asked her to try on particular shirts he found to his _incredibly-hard-to-please_ taste, but then when he had commented on her poor execution of the outfit...! Ah, the despicable redhead!

However; finding no escape from the situation, decided to conceal her fiercely growing agitation for the boy's domineering tactics at forcing her to shop and played along eventually. She swore if it weren't for that darned smile on his face whenever she was about to explode with objections, she would have by now been halfway home.

They had thereafter stopped at a nearby restaurant as Shinako lugged the many bags of goods behind her. Somehow the situation seemed no different from that time they had visited the Gion Matsuri together; however on this particular occasion, she had for the first time witnessed the boy eat.

She couldn't help but take great notice of how peculiarly he held his chopsticks. He was an extremely particular eater, pushing off certain things in his plate (one of the things being something that contained seaweed), and Shinako had in turn eaten the things he discarded of.

He didn't appear bothered in the least by her sharing his meal, and after waiting for her to finish the rest, Shinako followed Akashi out the restaurant. She wasn't sure if he was perhaps done in the shopping centre, but thought otherwise when he suggested they visit the nearby aquarium.

They walked along the infinite rows of glass wall that from the other side, shown a bright blue in the darkness. Shinako had always meant to visit the aquarium considering Natsume had spoken about it often, but for some reason it had always slipped her mind.

She pressed her palm against the cold glass and in the silence, realized just how long it had been since she had so much fun... Not to mention with the red haired Akashi! It all sounded awfully amusing when she thought back on the fact that he actually took her shopping for clothes (and ignored her incessant requests to pay for the goods).

Ever since the morning she had been feeling rather sullen. And yet so easily, the boy and his ludicrous ability to read minds had made her forget about her current worries.

She never imagined the boy was even capable of engaging in such... Human activity. Nevertheless, she felt for that moment that he could read her emotions like a book.

'Today was fun, Seijuro. Thank you,' she mumbled, staring in fascination at the large fish that swam overhead in the bright turquoise light, 'and good luck for the Winter Cup.'

The Akashi was silent for a moment and she imagined it was his means of acknowledging her words. But then he spoke: 'luck is for the weak. I have no need for something so indefinite.'

Shinako frowned at his statement. She would have preferred if perhaps he didn't say anything at all in response to her words, but his answer only in turn made her skin crawl again.

'You're awfully certain of yourself.'

He smiled. 'That's because I'll win.'

'You can't predict everything.' She was certain she heard this before too. What was with the incredible amount of déjà-vu in one day?

His eyes were hard and his smile disappeared. 'It's not prediction. Victory is a given for me.'

The utter trash from his mouth! 'Ugly yokai,' she snapped, once again in complete disbelief of his incredible level of contemptuousness.

She couldn't believe she actually thought he'd have changed his mind set. For a person of so much power, carrying an aura of might with him around, she was in absolute disgust at the extent of his egotism. So much so that her mood instantly changed from contentment to agitation in the blink of an eye, and she began to fear she too was developing a personal case of bipolar disorder.

But he grabbed her wrist; much like that one summer evening; and shoved her back against the cold, thick glass of the ceiling-high tank. She grunted on impact of her shoulder blades colliding with the ice cold wall and opened her eyes again on feeling the contrasting heat of his hands pin her wrists against it. Just what was with the Akashi and his animalistic tendencies?

She had never seen such intensity in the boy's eyes before. The heterochromatic orbs were hard and steely, instantly reminding her about the incident when he'd snipped away at her hair that time, and she tensed.

'You're so _intolerable_, Ashikaga Shinako,' he growled, and she winced at how much tighter his fingers began to wring around her thin wrists.

'You are none the better, Akashi Seijuro...' she squirmed beneath his weight against the glass.

The conflicting sensation of ice against her back and heat against her chest was a painful thing to endure. She desperately tried to escape his grasp, feeling her heart pound fiercely within her chest with a perplexing mixture of pleasure and pain.

'Stay still.' he ordered suddenly, and the stern tone he used instantly made her obey against her own will.

He was still the moment she stopped resisting, and slowly, he leaned forward and she could feel his breath against her ear. She shuddered at the sensation of his tongue sliding over the top of the ear he had at one stage nicked with the scissors. Her heart began to race a mile a minute and she frowned, squirming beneath him again despite how difficult he really made it to move.

'Seijuro, no...' she couldn't stand his teasing.

She couldn't stand how weak and warm he made her feel. How easily he made her submit to him with his brute force. How he made her like him despite what a despicable guy he really was.

Yet the moment she felt his grip on her wrists ease, she threw her hands against his chest and shoved him back... Or at least that was what she wanted to do. However the moment her palms pressed against the rock hard surface, she felt a pulse; she was unsure for a moment if perhaps the heartbeat belonged to her.

And incredibly distracted by this new discovery, Shinako failed to take action against feeling Akashi's teeth graze the top of her ear. He pinched the healed wound between his straight teeth, and the horrid pain in turn sent adrenalin pumping to every possible part of her body.

She was instantly prepared to shove him back, but before she could, he pulled away. A knowing smile played on his lips and he licked them, turning around as he started down the other end of the dark hallway.

'Bad girl,' he whispered, leaving Shinako bubbling with an intense mixture of rage and... What was it-_ah_-a difficult sort of inner degradation.

The despicable Akashi...! She could have kicked herself for feeling so flustered; so absolutely confused and weakened by even the pain he caused her. But mostly, she resented the feelings because she knew slowly she was falling into madness.

His psychosis, his bipolar disorder, and his damned multiple personality disorder... The boy was tainted. And yet even in his destructive state, he was still this beautiful disaster.

* * *

**_A/N_**_: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I'm really glad I didn't update this story so soon yesterday, considering I read through the chapter that was meant to be posted and made some drastic changes. _

_Ah, and what's with Akashi's domineering approach with things!? XD Stay tuned for more explanation! :) And remember: __**feedback**__ is awesome sauce, and YOU are awesome sauce for following/fav'ing/reviewing this story!_


	14. Chapter 14

Shinako shifted uncomfortably on the spot as Kotaro and Reo stared intently at her. At first when she answered the door she had expected Natsume to be on the other side considering the girl had mentioned something about visiting her for math tuition... What she didn't predict; however; was that the people on the other side of the door would be the basketball seniors.

'What? What is it?' she couldn't stand the silence for a second longer.

Her flustered state as the third-years kept their eyes on her was unusual. Even this morning when they'd seen her walk into the school, there was an evident air of... _Change _that walked in with her. She didn't seem her cool and collected self. She instead looked as if she was slightly bothered with something, and Kotaro - to Reo's surprise - was the one to pin-point the Ashikaga's air of discomfort.

'Oi, Reo-nee; does Aka-nee look differently to you or is it just me?'

For Kotaro to actually notice such a peculiar detail... There was definitely something strange going on, indeed! Hence, the reason behind why they had cornered her within the confines of her home after school that day.

'Shin-chan, how are you?'

Shinako gave Reo an incredulous look. Did they pay her a visit so suspiciously to simply question her health? 'I'm fine, Mibuchi. And you two need to stop doing this to me. These meetings are often incredibly unnecessary. If you needed to ask me how I was, you could have done so by simply asking me in the morning. But actually _coming over_ to my _house_ is taking it a bit far.'

'Whoa, Aka-nee, you're talking a lot more than usual.'

Reo sighed. 'I thought as much this was the case, Hayama...'

Shinako cocked an eyebrow. She had no idea what on earth the two were scheming, but she had a hunch that whatever it was would churn out a ridiculous turn of events. 'Well this meeting was all very pointless. It's getting late and you should both head home.'

She took a step forward towards the front door when Kotaro blocked her path. She frowned at him, about ready to protest when Reo beat her to it: 'Sei-chan's evidently in a good mood ever since the weekend.'

Shinako tensed. The moment Reo mentioned the redhead's name, she instantly felt her skin prickle all over. 'Did something happen between the two of you?'

Kotaro nodded frantically. 'Yeah, yeah; you're even ignoring _us_.'

She folded her arms and straightened up defensively. 'I don't understand why this should even concern you two.'

Kotaro made an incredibly grumbly sound which in turn made Reo's eyebrows furrow. They looked awfully displeased by her lack of emotive response.

'Shin-chan, it's so obvious that it's _painful_! Did he do or say something to you again?'

Her skin prickled uncomfortably the moment she fully registered his words. How could her discomfort during the past week have been so evident? She was certain her scorn for him in that regard only heightened if anything, and that really wasn't anything unusual considering their initial conflict.

'Well...,' she started, glancing around the room as both Reo and Kotaro perked up by the expectant tone she used, 'I'm quite certain your captain-' '-_our_ captain-' '-is actually an overly hormonal teenage girl beneath those clothes.'

It took a moment's silence before Kotaro cracked up. He grinned widely, slowly trembling with giggles, and when he could no longer hold his amusement in, let out a sharp bark of laughter. 'What, what, _what_!? Aka-nee, you're _hilarious_!'

Shinako hadn't smiled. She wore only a frown to emphasize her point, and tapped her foot impatiently on the tatami. 'Don't laugh. I'm serious, Hayama.'

Reo seemed to take her statement rather seriously, and surprised by how attentive he really was to the tone she used when she said it, her eyes widened.

'Mibuchi, what are you thinking?'

'... Shin-chan, when did you buy that shirt?'

She glanced down at the deep red flannel t-shirt and huffed a response. 'Why?'

There was a glint of amusement in his narrowed eyes and he only smiled back at her. 'Ah, no; it's just that... No, forget it. It's nothing.'

And how difficult he made it for her to want to forget just what he was about to say! She found his tone incredibly suspicious, and unable to push aside her skepticism, hardened her eyes on his form on the floor.

'What? What is it, Mibuchi?'

'Oh, it's just that the other day I saw Sei-chan looking at the same thing. I found it really unusual that he actually took an interest in something apart from basketball or shogi. And I'm pretty surprised to see you bought the same thing. Ha-ha. What a coincidence.'

She decided not to dwell on the subject for a moment longer. To be honest, his little explanation of the thought behind the shirt he'd bought her that weekend only made her suddenly feel a little self-conscious. She stared at the two as Reo attempted pacifying the light-haired senior as he rolled around on the floor still awfully amused about the comment she made on their team captain. She was quite annoyed at the great hilarity he found in what she'd said earlier and instantly regretted ever letting the two into the house... Not that she had much of a choice though.

If she perhaps answered the door only a second later instead of the exact moment she heard Kotaro's voice on the other side, she could have saved herself the trouble of dealing with the pair of Rakuzan seniors.

'Hey, Reo-nee,' Kotaro managed through untimely fits of laughter as he held his side in pain, 'I got a message, check it out for me.'

Reo took the phone from beside him and flipped it open. His eyes twinkled with delight as he read through whatever it was, and Shinako grew immensely curious at this. 'Oh, Eikichi's coming over. Shin-chan, you should cook something up.'

* * *

And how did she ever get herself into such a situation! She had imagined she would be spending the evening alone in the house for a Wednesday, but her pleasant dream was suddenly crushed by the basketball team's third years and their surprise visit.

On hearing a knock on the front door, Reo rushed to answer it, ushering Eikichi in as the large boy lugged a bunch of junk food in with him. Shinako scolded the three for their untimely visit, and as usual, Reo was the one to placate her by helping her tie her apron and then goaded her into the kitchen.

Ah, damn the dark-haired boy and his unnaturally relaxing presence! She was certain if it weren't for him, she would have personally discarded of each boy by the collar of their shirts like stray dogs.

During the time she prepared them something to eat though, Reo - she noted - was an incredibly helpful individual... Then again, she wasn't sure if he joined her in the kitchen and aided her if only for the sole opportunity to lecture her about the redhead captain. He did however seem to know a lot about the boy, and on realizing there was no point trying to tune him out completely, decided to in fact listen to his advice.

And as ridiculous as it seemed, when the two plated the large dishes of food on the small living room table, Reo had managed to engage Kotaro and Eikichi into the conversation.

'Oh, and his birthday is on December 20th. Shin-chan, when is yours?'

She didn't want to answer that question, but she wasn't exactly sure the extent Reo would go if perhaps she didn't amuse him in thinking the redhead actually _liked_ her.

'November 31st...'

'Ah, not to mention he absolutely _hates_ Wakame - ha-ha, Nebuya, remember when he told you you could have the whole lot? He was so cute back then.'

'Oh, and remember that one time we challenged him to a poker game?'

Eikichi stared thoughtfully into the large bowl of rice as he reached for seconds. 'Ah, that was this guy's idea,' he pointed across the table at Kotaro whose eyes widened.

'Hey, we all agreed on it! Besides, the little guy surprised me there... Who wins with a full house on their first try!? That's not human!'

'Yeah, not to mention he beat me at arm wrestling,' Eikichi added to Kotaro's spaz attack as he gladly put this up on his imaginary board of the Akashi's inhuman abilities.

'And then we came up with our own nickname for him, so we called the whole incident _Legend of the Great General: Akashi_.'

Kotaro cleared his throat and pushed his chest out dramatically. '_He who has never known defeat_.'

Shinako sat back, watching the three boys as they discussed her redhead nemesis. She was pleasantly amazed by how well they knew the Akashi; so much so that at some point as they spoke, she couldn't make head or tail of their conversation. She felt incredibly out of place despite the fact that she was still a part of their discussion, and suddenly; as if it dawned on her that she was in fact alive and breathing only now; she placed exactly what the words to his personal haiku had meant.

* * *

**_A/N_**_: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I'd like to take some space here to point out that all the above information from these adorable Rakuzan seniors about their captain is in fact totally legit. I got the info from reading through the replace novels, which I must give absolute credit to _S. S. Records_ for introducing me to. :)_

_Also, what do you guys think Akashi's haiku means!? Remember kids, __**feedback**__ is as cool as cucumbers. So YOU are a cool cucumber for following/fav'ing/reviewing this story!_


	15. Chapter 15

Throughout the rest of the following day, Shinako had managed to keep a low profile around Reo's, Kotaro's, and even Eikichi's hawk eyes. She made sure she wouldn't run into them, and every time she had a hunch they were around the next corner, she made a dash for the opposite direction. Since when did she ever need to hide from anything?

Oh. _Yes_. Since the day before when they had visited her after school and planted utterly _ridiculous _thoughts into her bloody mind that perhaps their redhead captain actually _liked_ her.

_Hah_! She was certain the boy's lexicon didn't even contain such words of even the littlest feeling. She was positive - asserted by the intense concentration the boy was in suddenly now that the Winter Cup was almost in full gear - that the boy most definitely was not human at all. She had imagined his great attention to basketball would in turn put his perfect grades at a standstill... However this was not the case.

Ever since the incident at the aquarium, her dormant rage for the boy had once again erupted, and in turn, this fueled her brimming determination! And out of spite that evening when she had returned home, she made sure to drink 2 large cans of energy drinks she then later purchased. And yet to no avail, her grades for the following test had somehow only amounted to a measly 99%.

It all seemed awfully ridiculous as Shinako entered the court after school. There was no avoiding the Akashi after all. Not that she minded being in the same room as him. She was so filled with the boy's horrid ability to rattle her chain, that she even imagined throwing her shoe at his head the next time she was presented the opportunity.

She adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder and made her way for the change rooms. She glanced around the large room, but still, there was no sign of him... Not that she cared though. The moment she turned her head again, she felt her nose collide with something relatively solid.

Shinako stumbled back a few steps and frowned. She looked up, readying an apology when she noticed it was a first year. He had on a look of mild shock that grew evidently by his widening eyes, and Shinako watched in puzzlement.

'Oh...' 'I'm sorry,' he cut her off, lowering his head to emphasize his apology and walked off.

She stared at his retreating back and couldn't help feel immensely unnerved by what had just happened. That was an incredibly strange turn of events... She brushed off her uncertainty just as quickly though and continued for the change rooms.

She changed into her gym clothes quickly and emerged from the room, testing her shoulders as she readied herself for the usual warm-ups. The physically strenuous activity had in fact done her good considering how mentally drained she really was.

_Hah_. And somehow she couldn't help but let the words '_cognitive break_' slip through her building concentration.

The moment she walked to the other end of the court though, she couldn't help but take notice of how awfully quiet the room was. She glanced around her, noting the large amount of first years which was nothing out of the ordinary; but since when were they all ever this quiet? Their silence made her realize just how comforting their energetic chatter - on any other ordinary occasion - really was.

She brushed off her suspicions though and began her routine jog along the perimeter of the court. She completed five laps and stopped to catch her breath. By now, the first years were just beginning their warm ups, and she moved to join them. The moment she joined the group though, the students she gapped between moved a considerable distance away from her.

She didn't question their discomfort. She just frowned, greatly confused by the treatment they were offering her suddenly, and stretched her arms for the ground as she reached her toes. She couldn't fathom the sudden change of attitude the team had towards her, and she concentrated so hard on trying to reason the anomaly that it took her a moment to register the red and white sneakers directly beneath her face.

Well those looked awfully familiar... 'Shinako,' the voice sent a chill down her spine.

She stood up, frowning as she did, and dreaded seeing the boy's face. She imagined doing something like raising her arm up simultaneously and then giving him the lousy excuse of '_my hand slipped_'. Ah, how she burned to see his reaction to such _intolerance_.

'What are you doing?' Akashi's question sounded more like a statement with those incredibly apathetic eyes of his.

'What on earth does it look like I'm doing?' Shinako said in a rather _matter-of-fact_ way, mimicking the boy's tone.

Akashi had his hands on his hips. His lips were set in a thin line; however he didn't look at all bothered by her cheekiness as he raised his finger and pointed to his right. 'You are going to sit this one out.'

She stood staring at him blankly, wondering for a moment if perhaps she should have even bothered responding to his words. He was so uncaring about his decision to make her sit the game out that she even stopped to amuse herself with the thought if perhaps the boy just showed some hint of sarcasm... Of course, however, this was simply an impossible thought. It was the equivalent to questioning if perhaps plants could produce simple speech. It was _impossible_.

Shinako sat out the entire hour and a half of club activities, and in that time, directed her attention into her textbooks once more. She at first re-wrote a few of the notes she didn't quite understand perfectly, and then moved to highlighting appropriate examples for Natsume later in the day. However these things seized to hold her attention for long. There was no shogi board in the room today, and unsure of what else to do, Shinako could only watch the team as they rounded up the last of their activities and the boys all retreated to the change rooms.

In that time, Shinako had attempted figuring out just what was going on in the heads of her teammates. It was at first rather amusing to make eye-contact with a bunch of them consecutively and noting their quick responses to look away. Yet a while into her lonesomeness did she discover there was no longer anything interesting in her solitude.

She dwelled on this a little longer as she watched the first years file out of the gym. One by one they exited, and as usual, the three seniors were the last to leave. Kotaro and Eikichi walked out ahead of Reo and waved goodbyes at her, where not far behind them, the dark-haired third year followed.

'Shin-chan, did you get injured again?' Reo asked; his eyebrows rising with genuine concern.

Shinako stared at him blankly. 'Not that I know of...'

Reo cocked an eyebrow and stared at her with mild confusion. She couldn't blame him; she didn't know herself what was wrong with her that she was ordered to sit out today's training schedule... However she didn't feel quite frustrated about this. She only felt apathetic towards the entire ordeal, and this was evident by her constant blank expressions.

'Oh, well, I'll be leaving then, Shin-chan. See you tomorrow,' his eyebrows settled tiredly as he waved her a farewell.

Shinako watched Reo's retreating back rather absent-mindedly. She was lost in thought for just a second, and in that fleeting moment, she noticed the Akashi's red hair from the side of her eye... but more importantly, the basketball that was merely inches away from her face.

She was thankful for her amazing reflexes then as she raised her hand and smacked it away before it made contact with her face. She listened to it bounce off as she glared at the redhead in front of her and rose from the bench.

'That was incredibly unnecessary. If you wanted my attention so badly, you could have just spoken.'

And the zeal she'd suddenly attained from last week's scary encounter with him! She was certain she never used this sort of assertive tone before with anyone else in her life up until now. Not even the airhead Natsume had gotten such peeved responses out of her. Oh, but this boy was different altogether indeed.

'Shinako...,' he articulated this perfectly, saying it in that usual way of his as if he found the name to be some sort of exotic new discovery, 'play one-on-one with me.'

* * *

To describe the entire situation thereafter as _ridiculous_ would have most definitely been an understatement. Shinako at first deliberated his request, but angered a little more (if this was even humanely possible) by the fact that he was dressed in his uniform again and had moments before underwent an intense physical workout, felt once again undermined by the damned Akashi at the thought that he was perhaps handicapping her.

In return, she accepted his request to play - seething as she did - and also spontaneously resolved that she would in turn make the game as pleasurable as she could. Besides, she needed today's workout. But for some reason only God knows why, the boy had deprived her of even that.

Hence, her repayment for his utter douche-baggish attitude: she decided to play fire with _water_ this time around.

When they first began the match, she had for the first few moments actually _tried_ despite the fact that she didn't care to impress him. He stole the ball - as expected - a God-awful lot, and every time she attempted a steal, he would use his incredible speed to make a breakthrough and score.

The match continued like this tediously for the next five minutes, tallying their scores: 14-0. Her zero effort in the game had at first struck something like displeasure in the boy's eyes, she could tell. It were as if his alter ego was surfacing every time she let him slip through her defence, but this time, she really didn't give a damn for his inner demon or whatever the hell the 'other' Akashi really was.

She was surprised however at the boy's resilience. She wondered by now why he hadn't uttered some trash about her '_intolerance_' or simply left the court due to her clear disinterest in the game, but he instead continued play.

They began again for the umpteenth time, and on this round, Shinako managed to steal the ball. She was certain the Akashi was caught off guard, and in the process of her astonishment, made the grave mistake of dropping her own defence. He reached his hand, stepped around her as he knocked the ball from one palm into the other. Shinako hadn't wanted to admit it, but she was quite taken aback by this new show of technique... Somehow she never imagined the boy to be a fancy player. Sure, he utilized his alien brain to plan strategies and particular player positions on the court at exact timings, but the speed at which he executed that move was beyond her.

'I am absolute, Shinako,' he said after throwing the ball above him into the net, 'so young. So predictable. So _immature_. Foolish you still are to once again even accept my challenges...'

There was only silence that ensued before Akashi parted his lips once more: 'give up on trying to reach me.'

Shinako's fists shook. She was certain it was pure fury until her lips twitched at the sides in a smile. Slowly, the smile grew into a grin, and gradually, she let out a sharp bark of laughter as she threw her head back and stared at the boy in utmost amusement.

'_Reach you_? Please, Seijuro. With that horrid attitude of yours, you're nowhere but at _my _feet,' she huffed, 'although I'm really not in the mood to deal with your ridiculous hormonal dysfunctions. I'm leaving.'

Or in other words, she was simply escaping having to deal with the boy's surfacing psychosis. She was certain her words - like the last time - would trigger some sort of violent outburst from the boy, and even as she walked past him, she braced herself. She was sick of listening to the Akashi's mindless prattling about how God-like he was, and felt quite good about letting _that_ load off her chest. It had been a while since she really exploded, but now that she did, she felt confident about returning home to her studies and once more ingesting copious amounts of energy drinks in spite of her redhead nemesis.

She paused mid-stride the moment he raised his single arm in front of her, and braced herself for the worst. A flurry of possible situations and how to counteract them raced through her mind in that split second, but the boy did not take action.

Instead, he only gave her that rare sort of smirk that made his multi-coloured eyes fill with an incredible air of sinister intent. She wondered if perhaps he was scheming something diabolic the moment she placed his leer, however she could see no sharp objects in his hands... Yet that didn't mean he wasn't capable of pulling them out of thin air like the last time.

But... _Nothing_. He didn't surface any psychotic intention, and simply reached for her hair as he stroked it with some sort of strange longing.

Shinako didn't question this considering his bizarre reaction was way better than another savage outburst of his. She simply stood beside him; frowning subtly in puzzlement of the boy's unexpected response, until he tugged at her hair painfully and let go of it in that same instance.

She turned on her heel at his departure, seething at him as he continued to walk away from her as if nothing had just happened, and reached for her shoe. She aimed it at his head, but the moment she imagined she was victorious, it hit against the room door as he shut it behind him and was thereafter gone.

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I want to thank all you lovely people for dropping off such lovely reviews for me. :) Ah, it's always such a pleasure to read through your comments! Also, I have a question for you beautiful readers out there: _what genre music do YOU think Akashi listens to?

_Based on how well you explain your answer, your opinion could be featured in an upcoming chapter for this story! ;D SO DROP SOME REVIEWS, YOU GORGEOUS MANGOES_.


	16. Chapter 16

That evening when she had returned home, she made certain she opened her laptop at some point between her studies and researched about the boy's condition... However the symptoms of possible psychosis seemed far too outrageous, even for the boy!

Surely he had his moments of murderous intent... Yet the company he kept was in fact the company she kept too. She was certain the basketball seniors played no role in his hysteric alter ego. Perhaps what gave rise to his inner beast-like self had something to do with a more personal matter...

However she had to stop and actually remind herself that she did not - at all - even care about the Akashi's mental health. She had to study. Initiating his academic defeat once more was at the top of her priority list.

... And yet somehow the next morning when she joined Natsume at a nearby cafe for some early coffee, her slow-motion state said otherwise.

Natsume watched in horror as Shinako made her way to the table like a zombie. She was dressed in a shabby-looking shirt she was certain she'd seen the redhead wear somewhere before, and a steely gray straight leg pair of pants. It was a relatively warm day for the early winter in Kyoto, and seeing no need for a neck scarf, Shinako had instead tied her hair up into a tight ponytail.

'Shin-chan, you should be fined for dressing like that...' Natsume stared distastefully at her friend who sat across from her at the table.

Shinako harrumphed. 'That comment was unnecessary. If you don't like the way that I dress...'

'_Then get out_,' Natsume mimicked, in turn earning a glare from her friend at the other side of the table and she wailed dramatically. _'Uwaa_, okay, I'm sorry Shin-chan!'

Shinako brushed off the girl's exaggerated response and reached beside her into her sling bag, producing a thick textbook as she placed it on the table. Natsume stared in utmost dread at the thing as if it was road kill of sorts, and Shinako flipped through a few pages, pinpointing the highlighted examples.

'Two minutes,' she tapped the face of her watch on her wrist to exaggerate this.

'Oh God,' Natsume panicked as she raised her pencil, 'I think I'm going to get a heart attack... I can't do this.'

Shinako closed her eyes and folded her arms contently. 'Yes, Natsume, you can. Anything is possible...'

'_If you put your mind to it_,' she mimicked her again, this time even pulling off Shinako's blank face which in turn earned her yet another death glare. 'Alright, alright, Shin-chan; that look of yours is going to kill me some day! It's no wonder everyone's so freaked out when they see you...'

_... Wait, what?_ Shinako's eyebrows furrowed deeper at the girl's comment. 'Natsume, explain.'

The blonde suddenly appeared relatively uptight, and in turn became withdrawn. She worked fervently on the sums in the textbook, and was so fiercely concentrated on the assignment at hand that she finished them under the time limit and even got them correct.

'Ah, Shin-chan, it's just... Um...'

Shinako sighed. 'What? What is it?'

'It's just a really stupid rumour that's been going around the grade... I mean, ever since you started carrying around this incredibly negative attitude, our grade began assuming some crazy things like you're the _Akashi successor _or something equally nutty as that...,' Natsume explained, seeming in deep thought as she trailed off, but then suddenly stared intently at Shinako. 'So I want to ask you something, Shin-chan, but you have to promise me you won't get upset.'

Shinako cocked an eyebrow and leaned back into her seat. 'This depends on what your question is, Natsume.'

The blonde mulled over her answer rather absent-mindedly, before suddenly watching her friend again with an intense sort of attentiveness.

'Are you and Akashi-san related?'

Shinako stared back blankly. 'No.'

Natsume breathed out an exaggerated air of relief and slammed her hands on the table. 'Now I can finally give those fangirls a proper answer...!'

_Fangirls? _And Akashi? She could have cracked up at the thought of this, but she was far too consumed with how incredibly absurd the students in her grade were to even _think_ she and the redhead boy were a pairof sorts. Oh, how she would _gladly_ hand over the boy's psychosis any day!

And as these ridiculous thoughts occupied her mind, she couldn't help but take great notice only now of how much make-up the girl across from her was wearing. Well certainly a trip to the cafe at such an early hour of the morning didn't require so much planning in terms of dress code... Then again, she didn't honestly bother with picking out anything particularly tasteful this morning considering how haphazardly their meeting was planned over a flurry of text messages.

Natsume claimed she was failing dismally in the subject - much like when she was still a new student at Rakuzan - and begged her genius friend's help on the matter. Shinako didn't mind being called out of her house so early in the morning, however what happened next made her reconsider this feeling...

* * *

'Shin-chan, can I come over for a bit?'

She looked over the sums the girl completed in her notebook and made corrections where necessary without looking up. 'Sure, I guess...'

And how she regretted ever agreeing to the girl following her home! What discomforted her however was not the girl's incessant chatter as they walked towards and entered the home thereafter... it was the blonde's growing enthusiasm as she rummaged through Shinako's wardrobe without her permission. Vexed by how incredibly uncontainable the girl was, she could only stand and watch as Natsume went over articles of clothing and squealed with delight.

'Natsume,' she scolded, 'if you don't stop ransacking my cupboard, I'm going to throw you out of this house.'

However the girl - as usual - took her threat with no hard feelings as she tossed a few things over her shoulder. She began rambling on about how exquisite the clothing in her wardrobe was in contrast to the tasteless way she dressed for occasions. She was even taken aback by the shirts that still had labels intact, and at some point even demanded an explanation for the brand new things.

'I would tell you that, but first you must tell me where on earth we're possibly going.' she attempted bargaining with the girl, but alas! It was to no avail.

Natsume simply refused to crack. _'Hah_! Shin-chan, it's a surprise!'

And alas, arguing with the girl was like trying to pick a fight with a concrete wall. Despite how easily she on any ordinary occasion gave into Shinako's death glares, when Natsume had her eyes set on something, she refused to look away.

And Shinako - unable to reason with the blonde - was eventually forced into wearing a white shirt that had a black collar and black cuffs. Intricate florals patterned the sleeves, and contrasting the colourful design on her elbows, she wore a pair of black pants that set above her ankles.

_'Wow_...' Natsume stared in awe at her redhead friend.

Shinako shifted uncomfortably on the spot and adjusted her hair. She tightened the ponytail, stole a glance at herself in the mirror, and looked away just as quickly. She didn't understand where Natsume was going with her little dress-up game, but now that she in fact managed to achieve whatever it was she wanted, Shinako raised her chin expectantly.

'Where are we going, Natsume?' she only hoped at this point that the girl hadn't (without her friend's permission) organized a mixer of some sort with the boys from their grade.

But Natsume smiled knowingly and raised her two fingers. Shinako instantly imagined something ridiculous coming out of the girl's mouth and braced herself.

'We're going to support our school's basketball team at the Winter Cup!'


	17. Chapter 17

Shinako had wished she'd never in the first place ever agreed to meet with the girl this morning. Somehow Natsume had only filled her usually quiet life with endeavors despite the fact that she didn't mind her bubbly personality. However this time, she could only mentally curse at her friend's incredibly outgoing self.

She knew the girl was scheming _something_, but actually attending a Winter Cup match? Shinako would have instead sat at home in complete silence with her study notes if it weren't for the tickets Natsume produced from her back pocket gleefully.

'Shin-chan, you should dress up more often. You have some real potential to be popular...,' Natsume giggled, glancing over her shoulder at a group of strangers, '_like me._' she added with a cheesy pose that the redhead didn't even bother acknowledging.

Shinako harrumphed a response and kept her eyes dead ahead of her at the match lineup when they'd taken their seats. She couldn't care less for the people around her. In fact, she wasn't in the mood at all to be in the least sociable. Not to mention attending a basketball match dressed so outrageously... Ah, if the girl hadn't been this particular blonde exchange student, she swore she would have never budged from her living room.

She watched the glowing orange court as if it were the best possible thing on earth at this point in order to keep her attention away from the awful lot of stares she was getting from a particular boy in the stands. At first, she honestly couldn't care less for his attention. She even brushed off Natsume's prior giddiness in regard to a small group of apparently '_good-looking_' guys watching her from a distance, and simply deemed the entire happening with the simple answer of: '_please stop assuming things, Natsume_'.

She was so intent on making herself believe the boys had in fact no interest in her that she was in turn consumed with the basketball match ahead. She took great notice of the opposing team that first entered the court; the boys were dressed in a tolerable orange kit that at first struck her as incredibly unusual. On further inspection she gathered the boys were from Shutoku high school in Tokyo.

Natsume at some point here had leaned in towards Shinako and said something, however the redhead was unable to hear her announcement. She only followed the finger she pointed further down into the court, and watched as Rakuzan high was announced. The crowd instantaneously went from relatively noisy to _uncontainable_. She scanned the line of players, and not long after had her eyes settled on the red haired boy. This was in fact the first time she had seen him in the official Rakuzan basketball uniform, and surprised at how natural it looked on him, raised her eyebrows unconsciously at the pleasing site.

His hair for some reason seemed like a flaming red against the pale colours of his uniform. She most definitely however recognized the white and red sneakers. She wondered for a moment thereafter if perhaps the boy would be playing the entire match from start to finish, and couldn't help but dwell on this for a moment longer until gameplay was announced.

Shinako watched observantly as the game juggled each team's advantages. She scanned the court, taking great notice of the strong defence and offence that was clearly the work of the team captain. She wouldn't - on any other occasion - have liked to admit it, but she was relatively impressed with the strategy the team utilized. On further inspection she was pleased at the fact that she was correct in assuming the Akashi did in fact exploit his knowledge in shogi when it came to basketball. She wondered for a moment longer if perhaps the boy was instead raised to be a subhuman monarch of sorts... And this didn't come across as absurd as she would have at first imagined.

The boy clearly had the potential. Everything about him _reeked _of that damned superiority complex of his. So much so she could actually feel his _I-am-the-embodiment-of-perfection_ aura even up in the stands, and she was unknowingly gaping as she watched the game progress in favor of Rakuzan towards the end.

It wasn't long after when the scores tallied _Rakuzan 128_, and the opposing team _121_. In considerable awe at the small point difference, Shinako hadn't realized that the game was in fact over. She was so at the edge of her seat throughout the game that the two and a half hours the match lasted for seemed almost non-existent.

However Rakuzan was not the only team that seemed powerful on the court. Shinako was quite taken aback by the opposing orange jerseys that consisted of a particularly tall boy with green hair who had the ridiculous ability to score from any position on the court. It was mind-boggling really, and yet the tension between Rakuzan's captain and Shutoku's star shooter was evident even up in the stands.

She wondered during the game if perhaps the two were acquaintances of sorts, however this thought was short-lived considering how engrossed she was in the gameplay.

* * *

'Wow, Shin-chan; it's no wonder you joined the basketball team! You looked so intense watching them play!' Natsume commented as she stared at her redhead friend in fascination.

Shinako didn't want to respond to that statement, and simply stared ahead of her as she made a small sound of acknowledgment. She had to admit the game was indeed an interesting thing to watch. She never imagined she would have ever found the sport this compelling, and quite surprised at this inner discovery, felt her eyes soften.

So the boy was talented. She had to hand it to him that he indeed excelled in the sport field... But the fact that his academics were no short of his natural physique was still a rather baffling thing.

'Oh...,' Natsume stopped walking, and this caught Shinako's attention.

She turned around, staring blankly at the blonde as she stared at her phone screen in the middle of the crowd as they moved out the exit. 'What's the matter, Natsume?'

She looked up, smiling sheepishly at Shinako as she rubbed the back of her neck. 'There are just some girls I better go meet... But I'll be back in just a minute, okay!' she quickly pointed a finger at Shinako's face. 'So don't go anywhere. I'll be right back!'

Shinako watched as the blonde took off, moving fluidly against the crowd before completely disappearing out of sight. She walked out of the stadium alone, wondering just what to do as she waited for Natsume to re-appear and found a half wall which she seated herself on for the meantime.

She watched the people pass by for a moment, and losing interest in her surroundings, whipped out her cell phone. She scrolled through her latest messages and opened the unread one from her grandfather in hospital. She was pleasantly surprised to have received a message from him, and smiled absent-mindedly at the contents as she glanced over the words with her eyes.

She was so engrossed in the text message that it took her a moment to note the shadow that fell over her on the wall. She looked up, unable to make out any definite features of the shadowed individual as he blocked the sun.

'Um...' she started, unsure of what exactly to say to the stranger.

'Wow...,' the voice started in a tone of genuine amazement, 'I've heard about Akashichi's _sister_, but I never thought the two of you looked _this _alike.'

She instantly scowled at the tall boy's comment. Even though this was her first time meeting the individual, she already deduced she didn't like him very much considering the unwanted comparison of her and the Akashi that reached her ears.

'Do I know you?' she asked coldly.

_'Uwaa_,' the boy chuckled, feigning injury as he placed an opened palm over his chest. 'What a cold first impression!'

There was something incredibly familiar about the boy's way of speaking. She perked up at his words; awfully certain she'd heard them somewhere before; and stared at him intently as her eyes adjusted to his form even as he stood against the blinding backdrop.

The boy was evidently taller than most his age, yet apart from his height, Shinako instantly placed his blonde hair and matching golden eyes. His voice, his appearance, his overall child-like aura was so awfully familiar, that Shinako could only stare at him in utmost confusion before mumbling: '... _Natsume_...?'

It seemed incredibly ridiculous, however every single detail about the boy was nothing short of her female friend who took off only moments ago. Even though he was clearly a boy, she couldn't bring herself to believe they were two different people entirely.

Noting the great amount of confusion on the girl's face however, the boy moved from in front of her to beside her on the wall and extended his hand.

'I'm not too sure who this _Natsume_ is, but my name is Kise Ryota...,' he smiled brightly, 'it's a pleasure to meet you, Shin-chan.'

Despite his fleeting introduction, just by the mention of her friend's personal nickname for her, she could not for the life of her imagine they were unrelated somehow.

She closed her eyes and frowned, mentally scolding herself for actually even believing such a thing was even possible.

'Please do not call me that...,' she opened her eyes again and faced him, 'my name is Ashikaga...'

_'Shinako_.' he still smiled knowingly, and she immediately began to despise the expression.

Just where on earth did the boy even pop out from? Who was he, suddenly appearing out of the blue and calling her by that nickname she never approved of from the start? And just where was Natsume?

'Well,' she tried to fend off a building headache from how bright the boy really was to look at beneath the sunlight, 'it was nice to meet you... I suppose...' she added thereafter in an odd tone.

Thankfully before the boy had the chance to say anything more, Natsume appeared from the dwindling crowd ahead. She was waving frantically at Shinako's direction, and the action faltered only slightly when she took notice of the blonde beside her on the wall. Shinako could have face-palmed at how obvious the Ikina made it that she was asking her from a distance who the boy was, however the situation suddenly took an unexpected lurch when the blondes met...

'Ryo-chan...?' Natsume's lips spread into a grin as she approached them.

The boy followed Shinako's line of sight and - if this was even humanely possible - glowed even brighter when he noticed the blonde ahead.

'Natsu-chan...!' he beamed with excitement, 'I think I've met the Shin-chan you were telling me about.'

Natsume's eyes shut pleasantly - very much like the boy's at some point - and she seemed so incredibly thrilled about her summer sibling's announcement, that Shinako even imagined confetti going up in the background.

'Oo-hoo-hoo,' the blonde's society laugh formed as she tugged something forward from behind her with great difficulty, 'and I think I've met _your_ Shin-chan too!'

Both Shinako and Kise stared bug-eyed at Natsume as she attempted heaving something equivalent to a ton of concrete. However the only thing that appeared beside her was an even taller boy than Kise, and Shinako squinted at him in the sun as the two shared blank expressions.

_Ah_. She knew she recognized the boy's green hair, but... What on earth was he doing with Natsume of all people? The two were like oil and water even on first glance, and considering the green-haired chap's agitated expression by how awfully _bright_ Natsume looked beside him, she could only imagine his discomfort being in her overbearing presence.

'Natsu-chan, you were right!' Kise chirped in an incredibly high-pitched voice as he stood up from the bench with ridiculous enthusiasm. 'They're both the same!'

'Ah, this is the other Shin-chan?' a voice emerged from the other side of the tall boy, and this caught her attention as she craned her neck, taking notice of the dark-haired, shorter boy who voice this question.

Shinako felt awfully ridiculed by how carelessly the nickname she never approved of in the first place was being tossed around by people she's never even met before. However the warning glares she threw Natsume didn't quite affect the blonde in the way she imagined it would, considering the exchange student seemed to have pre-meditated this very _'haphazard' _meeting.

'Natsu-chan, look at that; they both have on the same expressions~.'

'_Kawaii, kawaii_, Shin-chan.'

'Takao...,' the green-haired one looked about ready to grab his shorter comrade by the head in utilizing their incredible height difference. 'Stop spouting such ridiculous nonsense.'

He turned to face Shinako on the wall again, and then only did she notice how quiet the rest of the noisy (and colourful, she noted) bunch around her grew. They looked as if they were anticipating something great, and Shinako managed to use their silence to take in the awfully strange-looking object in the tall, green-haired boy's hand.

It was a bottle of - on further inspection - aroma diffuser.

'Oh, this guy's name is Shintaro, by the way,' Takao (she gathered) smiled warmly as he jabbed a thumb at the taller boy. 'Midorima Shin...'

_'Oi_!' Midorima snapped warningly, however this only managed a knowing grin out of the shorter one.

'Ah, _gomen_, _gomen_. Shin-chan, please excuse his rudeness.'

Shinako watched with a blank expression at the argument that had thereafter broken out between the two larger and smaller boy, with Kise intervening at some point whining something even more ridiculous that seemed directed to the green-haired one that was something along the lines of: '_uwaa_, Midorimacchi, today's lucky item is so strange...'

And then Midorima adjusting his glasses up the bridge of his nose expertly in response to the blonde's wonderment. 'With your simple-mindedness – Kise – you shall never truly understand the value of Oha Asa.'

'Ah, Shin-chan, I think what he's trying to say is that the colour doesn't suit you.'

'Seize your mindless prattling! I had visited almost three different convenience stores in search of a lilac fragrance, as requested today for Cancers.'

'Ah, but Midorimacchi, it's important to look good...' Kise grinned brightly and winked, '_like me_!'

And then Natsume giving Shinako a somewhat mixed feelings expression before mumbling: 'okay... maybe the two of you really aren't that alike after all...'

Shinako could only watch with her arms folded at the three boys engaged in a light-hearted argument, and after seemingly pacifying Kise, Takao, and even Midorima, she took in a deep breath before pointing at them for emphasis and announcing: 'well that was all incredibly pointless.

'My name is Ashikaga Shinako; and it is a pleasure to meet you...,' she paused, 'I suppose...' she added thereafter in an odd tone.

Perhaps she was - after all - really a magnet for the most bizarre kinds of people.


	18. Chapter 18

On demanding an explanation for the two, Shinako later discovered that they had in fact planned this meeting... Well Kise and Natsume, that is. And that they were indeed related; the blonde boy claiming they were first cousins, and the girl claiming they were second.

Well whatever it was really, Shinako hadn't found their familial bond bizarre. If more than anything, she was instead comforted by the fact that they were relatives considering she had almost for a second believed she were losing her mind on meeting Kise. The similarities between the two were outrageously visible! And considering the bright aura they both carried around as if they both shared their _I-am-the-epitome-of-summer_ genes, she was certain she would be able to detect the two from a satellite even.

Not to mention how well the two got along! She was also positive that if it weren't for the boy pointing out that they were cousins, she would have most definitely assumed they were siblings.

'Shin-chan, join us for dinner...!'

'Yeah, from what Natsu-chan says, I'd really love to get to know you better.'

And the absolute sweet talk they were both capable of! Shinako was thankful for the fact that she was still seated when they began persuading her into tagging along with them for an evening meal, considering Natsume was very capable of trudging her along by the arm.

However she refused as politely as she could, scolding the Ikina only when she began to whine like a child about the ordeal, and put the two off rather sullenly. She felt bad for a moment to have rejected their offer, yet she wasn't exactly sure how long she'd hold out for. Last night she had been up studying for hours on end (not to mention researching the red haired boy's supposed 'mental disorder'), and the bounteous amount of energy drink she'd indulged herself with were beginning to take a toll on her now-drawling thoughts.

She wasn't however the only one to reject their enthusiastic cries. 'I have no time for such spontaneous activity,' Midorima announced, adjusting the pair of spectacles with bandaged fingers up the bridge of his nose.

Kise seemed incredibly distraught by his response, and Takao had on a similar expression. '_Uwaa_, Midorimacchi, you're such a killjoy!'

'Yeah, Shin-chan, let's go!' Takao encouraged him, and Shinako could only watch as the two disappeared with the pair of blondes in a one-sided argument.

Shinako stood up from the wall at their departure and dusted the front of her pants. She glanced around the relatively empty area outside the large stadium, and her eyes instantly fell upon the tall stature of a dark-haired basketball senior she was certain she recognized. She approached him, glancing at her cell phone one last time as she did, however the moment she looked up again, he was nowhere to be found.

A tad glum about his hasty departure, her eyes then fell upon a familiar colour in the thinning crowd ahead. It was the Akashi, as he had his head bent over, focusing with what looked like his cell phone.

Shinako - ever since the incident in the court that day - felt quite indifferent about him all over again. However watching the boy play earlier had ignited a strange sort of... _Admiration _in her eyes for him. Despite how honestly insensitive and strange the boy was overall, she couldn't help but mentally commend him for his natural talent.

She was so consumed with her mindless confession, that she barely noticed the Akashi's heterochromatic eyes on her as she stood idle at the centre of the concrete garden. She felt incredibly self-conscious the moment she registered she was simply standing like an unoccupied fool in the middle of nowhere staring back at her nemesis, and noting her discomfort beneath his sweeping gaze, a smile formed on the boy's lips.

She unconditionally _despised_ the buried words behind that particular expression of his... His cold eyes combined with the smug curve of his thin lips made her feel naked beneath his scrutiny. She felt stripped of her clothes and utterly exposed by how that particular look reeked of ulterior motive, and unsure of how to respond to his leer, couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up, which in turn only agitated her.

Ah, how could the red haired boy - her arch enemy - be capable of making her feel so submissive! The thought; as if in sequence; only made the smile on the Akashi's face grow as he sauntered in her direction coolly.

She was in no mood to deal with the boy's ridiculous mood swings, however her inability to move said otherwise.

'Shinako,' he articulated her name flawlessly, 'are you following me?'

She only now took notice of the boy's casual attire, noting that he was dressed in a black pair of jeans and a white shirt, which he layered a thin gray jersey over; he had white earphones tucked neatly into his ears. She wouldn't have liked to admit it, but he looked incredibly good dressed in this formal/casual style. It wasn't a site to see often, and she mentally commended him for this.

'You certainly think highly of yourself, Seijuro...,' she commented, taking further note of his black tie-ups, 'and congratulations on your victory.'

He was silent for a moment in acknowledgment of her words before being amused once more by the girl's honesty. Without fail; despite how much scorn she really showed him even after he made her remember her place; the redhead was simply incapable of harbouring ill feelings for him... And yet no matter what he did to frighten her back into the corner like the rest of his environment, she slowly crept back into the open.

Ah, the girl was vexing indeed... However in a pleasant sort of way the Akashi couldn't quite place even now.

'Walk with me,' he said, already walking away from her.

He half predicted her to protest, however his predictions had fallen on the latter. She fell in line beside him after he'd walked off a considerable distance, and he observed her from the side of his eye as she strolled quietly.

He took the second to take in the white shirt she wore, noting how well the thin black collar accentuated the shape of her neck. How crimson strands from her short pony tail stuck against her skin. His eyes settled on her breathing. The calm, carefully orchestrated breaths she took in and let out.

He extended his hand and pressed his palm against hers, noting how quick she was to respond to his touch. However he was unsatisfied with her bland reaction. He entwined their fingers and finally, the expression he longed to see on her face surfaced.

He wasn't entirely sure what about her awfully submissive response he enjoyed. Perhaps it was her quickening heart rate. Or her increase in body heat. Or just how honest she was that made Akashi want to capture her expression in his hands and simply have her to himself... However what troubled him in this respect was the fact that he could never identify the right moment to conquer the girl entirely. Instead, it was a slow, painstaking process that he didn't quite mind if perhaps he could gather more of these fleeting expressions of hers.

'Are you hungry?' he questioned, glancing beside him as he watched her skin evidently glow even beneath the dim streetlight.

She didn't respond to his question, however her silence hadn't bothered him. He led her to an approaching bench, and she stopped the moment he reached into his bag. She stared at his hands intently, and he smiled at the how cautious she looked. However her eyebrows only furrowed at the site of a pale blue neck scarf he produced from his kit. She was evidently confused, staring with calculating eyes as he wrapped draped it over her shoulders, and satisfied by how considerably well it concealed the provocative shape of her slender neck, sat her down on the bench with his bag.

* * *

'Don't move,' he said after a moment in that ridiculously authoritative tone, pointing at her for emphasis, and was then gone.

She stared at his back as he crossed the road and watched as he disappeared into the confines of the convenience store. She wasn't entirely sure just what the boy was planning, although she secretly enjoyed his showering affection considering it wasn't often he allowed this side to surface.

She bunched the scarf in her two hands, taking in how incredibly soft the sky blue fabric really was. She buried her nose into it as it cupped her palm and inhaled deeply, instantly placing the scent of the red haired boy. The Akashi - she noted - smelt just like red grapefruit. At first when she walked beside him on occasion, she was rather nonchalant in regard to this detail, however now that she had the opportunity to place the scent, she was pleasantly surprised at her unsightly discovery.

Well, considering he'd just showered not long before, it shouldn't have come across as unusual that the perfume was so pleasantly pungent... And yet the sudden thought of the Akashi's sky-rocketing sex appeal in this regard made her body burn over one hundred degrees. She had to mentally slap herself for ever imagining such inappropriate things, and the fact that it was the redhead boy only made her feel even more distraught.

Since when had she become so shameless?

She scolded herself almost immediately to keep her flustered thoughts in order when she became fairly aware of the bright object that glowed from the within the bag beside her on the bench. She was surprised to discover he had left his phone behind, and with nothing but a simple glance, managed to scan the dimming screen. She noted the earphones were still plugged into the top and the name of a Latin song cross the top of the screen.

This discovery piqued her interest greatly. She glanced ahead of her across the road to the store, and confirming he was still inside, reached for the single earphone. Somehow this all felt ridiculously illegal of sorts... Yet she reasoned her action with the fact that the Akashi knew a God-awful lot about _her_. Why was it that she knew almost nothing about _him_?

She cautiously placed the earphone against her ear and listened carefully as she made certain to be vigilant of her surroundings. She was not at all surprised by the fact that the red haired boy had eyes on all sides of his head. It didn't seem ridiculous considering absolutely _no_ detail escaped his scrutiny.

However knowing she was in fact once again somehow being even more '_intolerable'_ filled her with a mix of amusement and pride... Which in turn amounted to nothing short of shenanigans, really.

Yet Shinako was quite taken by how awfully calm the music he listened to was. She even scrolled through his playlist in some disbelief, searching for perhaps anything that could assure her of the boy's more psychotic side, but there was nothing. Only Japanese, Italian, and Latin opera tracks followed one after the other, consisting of light orchestras and even lighter, high-pitched, however pleasant singing.

It was like the calm before a storm. Shinako slowly began to feel her mind drift off to somewhere far away by the continuous piano and weightless echoes of the opera singer. Ah, just how unpredictable _was _the red haired boy? Just when she imagined she could have perhaps placed his strange personality, she was once again introduced with a surprising piece of information that made her thoughts take an unexpected lurch into the opposite direction.

However her peace was short-lived. She noticed his bright red hair from across the road even in the descending darkness, and quickly shoved the wires into his bag. She didn't understand why she was so frantic about actually being caught... Perhaps it was because she somehow understood what gave surface to his _'other' _side.

And then the _scissors_ instantly came to mind. She felt incredibly guilty about prying into his personal belongings, and yet she stomped down the feeling almost immediately by squaring her shoulders as she sat up straight again on the bench.

'Shinako...,' he pronounced her name without flaw, and she instantaneously tensed at that. 'You look awfully pale.'

She was certain his comment made her face whiten even more. However she quickly hid this by responding to his observation with a harrumph. 'I'm quite fine, thank you.'

Akashi narrowed his eyes at her, and she swallowed with some difficulty on realizing that he was in fact very aware of her earlier actions... And she couldn't help but give into her guilty conscience.

'I'm sorry for touching your things...' she mumbled, averting eye contact with him.

The Akashi was silent for a long moment and she rose from the bench, suddenly feeling incredibly small beneath his glower. She honestly didn't know what to expect from the boy. She didn't know if he'd snap at her with his crocodile-like reflexes to her '_intolerance'_, or if he'd simply walk away... And yet what he did next was nothing even close to what she had imagined.

He stepped towards her.

They were so close she could actually feel his body heat radiate off of his skin and against hers. She hated the fact that she made herself so conscious of their nearing contact, but he stopped a teasing distance away from her. He extended his hand, moving his fingers in a painstakingly slow motion behind her ear. She could feel his fingers in her hair as he pulled away the hair band, and simply watched him with a mixture of confusion and emotional discomfort by the way his eyes softened.

She wondered if perhaps the Akashi had an obsession with her hair. It was - after all - the first thing about her he made sure he made a lasting impression on... Or perhaps he was simply admiring his handiwork in that field. She honestly could have laughed at the thought if she were not so consumed with the uncontrollable thundering of her own heart.

'Seiju...' he pressed the side of his thumb against her lips to silence her.

There was something so incredibly affectionate about the expression he gave her that she was certain this was not the Akashi she knew. She could not - for the life of her - get her head around the colossal oddity the redhead really was.

His actions thereafter seemed so incredibly pained that she secretly wishes he would have reacted to her misbehaviour otherwise. He stroked her hair, pressed his fingers against the sides of her neck as if she would at any point suddenly disappear, and breathing softly, he handed her the packet of goods and was thereafter gone into the cold with his bag.

Her grandfather; earlier in the day; had sent her a haiku that she slowly found herself understanding as she stood alone with the impression of his warm fingers against her neck. The boy was so _broken_. In that moment, he looked as if he was faced with an incredibly difficult task, and she could not remove the painstaking distance he exuded as he walked away from her thereafter.

Just what was with the fleeting hint of self-animosity in his primary-coloured eyes? The red haired boy was indeed such a beautiful disaster... He was this tainted soul that without a doubt, ensnared her heart even though she was ashamed to admit it.

She didn't want to fall into that sort of madness. And especially not with the Akashi because she was certain he was incapable of returning her piling feelings for him. Was this his intention? To make her fall into his venomous web just so he could crumple her heart like paper every time he showed her that sort of heart-wrenching tenderness of his? She was incapable of finding appropriate words to describe just what on earth his pained portrait of an expression really shown.

She would have preferred if he snapped at her. If he responded violently somehow and gave her a proper reaction that didn't fill her with the kind of horrid unease. _Anything_ beside what he'd just done would have been a better approach; would have assured her of the boy's true feelings; she was certain.

Her heart felt like a toy working on a dying battery. Shinako this time could not command herself to stop feeling this way. Just when she assumed; even _imagined_; the boy was in fact very much capable of physically expressing some sort of raw emotion, he stopped himself mid-action. As much as she hated the feeling, she could not control the immense weight on her heart as she stared at his disappearing back...

_Akashi Seijuro... Just what do you think you're doing to me?_

_I don't know the names;_

_But every weed has blossoms_

_And poignant charm._

_- Sugiyama Sampu_

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I want to take some time to - once again - thank every single one of you for all the fabulous reviews you drop by! I read through every one, and your words are always inspiring. So remember, __**feedback**__ is incredibly wicked. YOU are incredibly wicked for fav'ing/following/reviewing this story!_

_And no worries - dear reader - if you are in fact quite puzzled in regard to the events of this chapter. All shall be explained in due time. :D Stay tuned!_


	19. Chapter 19

It was after school that early winter when Shinako walked to the end of the hallway. The final examination period was just around the corner, and ever since the beginning of the month, she had been in an intense study mode. So much so that not even basketball had for any longer plagued her over-worked brain.

It has also been two weeks since she'd spoken to the third years of the basketball team that one evening, when they'd all eaten dinner together spontaneously... And two weeks since the night she was witness to the red haired Akashi portray even the littlest of emotion with utmost difficulty.

'Shin-chan, _gomen ne_,' Natsume had bowed to her earlier in the day, clapping her hands together apologetically, 'but I can't make it to study with you today.'

She sighed at the memory of her friend's sincere apology as she rounded the corner to the basketball clubroom. She had taken a liking to the room due to how seldom it had been used by its occupants recently; besides, she preferred working where there were less people present too... And somehow, the room had fit her criteria perfectly.

She sat at the far end of the classroom against the window. It was the seat she often played shogi against the red-haired boy. She enjoyed the view over her shoulder. It helped her concentrate strangely when she would be stuck on a particular equation in her textbook, and in turn, it would calm her racing thoughts.

She worked in silence for almost an hour as she split her concentration to focus every once in a while on the shogi board in front of her. She had recently developed the habit of multi-tasking in this respect. She never would have even imagined she would taken such a liking to the game, however it was an exercise she found that eased her tensed thoughts. Almost like her art at some stage... Or perhaps even her haiku.

The corners of her lips rose. But the expression vanished just as quickly when the classroom door slid open. With her peripheral vision she watched as two students appeared at the door. They were first-years. She recalled seeing them at the court on occasion; however she never bothered with details. They were simply a part of her environment.

'I told you it was here...' one mumbled, walking into the class as he retrieved what looked like a notebook from a desk at the corner of the class.

'Of all places, dude...' the one at the door huffed, 'hey, do we have practice today?'

Shinako assumed from how casually the one at the door spoke that they were unaware of her presence in the room. Nonetheless, their conversation didn't bother her. She directed her attention to her textbook again and began the next equation.

'I'm not sure... I don't think so. We can go check it out anyway.'

'Yeah, I don't want to get on Akashi-san's bad side, huh.'

'Ah, talking about Akashi-san, he's amazing, isn't he?'

Shinako frowned. She wondered why they were still in the classroom holding such a petty conversation with one another, and this in turn agitated her. Nevertheless she scribbled the third step of her maths equation and frowned as she did it.

'... I don't get why his sibling's a part of the team though, ah, the girl, what's her name? _Asahara_?'

'Uh... _Arakawa_? _Ara_-something? Ah - yeah, her - I honestly don't know why she's in the club... She looks so weak.'

'She's good friends with the official Rakuzan team though; don't you see her hanging around them at break and stuff?'

'Ah, maybe they feel sorry for her or something...'

'... Or maybe it has something to do with that hair rumour...'

Shinako stopped listening to them. They walked out of the class; their voices becoming whispers as they walked through the corridor away from the clubroom.

She didn't want to admit it... She had dreaded admitting it, but their words had stirred a flurry of emotional thoughts as she sat in the classroom alone, staring at the shogi pieces on the board. Did her being in the basketball club insinuate such horrid things? Did her actually being friends with the team stir such suspicion to third parties? Did she honestly look that _weak_?

She stuffed her books into her bag, frowning fiercely as she did. She couldn't help but suddenly feel... What was it? What was the word-_ah_-_inferior_. It was a ridiculous way of reacting to the boys words. On any other occasion she wouldn't even consider the trash from their mouths... Then why...

Just why did she suddenly feel so self-conscious that she actually didn't want to be a part of the team anymore?

She walked towards the school gate and stopped. It wasn't like she actually wanted Eikichi and Kotaro to be waiting for her before she left the school. It wasn't like she wanted to take Reo's bag and personally deliver it to him in the basketball court at first... It wasn't like she wanted to go in just to see that red haired boy who at one stage she despised because he'd cut off all her beloved hair. Because he'd - just weeks ago - actually _bit_ her once-injured ear, giving rise to the forgotten pain once more. Because he was the underlying reason behind her joining the basketball club. Because he was the one she spent most of her time with unknowingly... Because he was the one who her heart threatened to squeeze itself to death whenever she was around. Because he was the one. _He_. _Him_.

_Akashi Seijuro._

'Shinako,' hearing his voice was like being struck by lightning because of what she'd just mentally confessed to herself.

She turned around, staring at the Akashi as he walked toward her from behind. His short, choppy ruby hair. His two primary-coloured eyes. His thin-set lips. His cold aura that gradually melted over her like spring snow. 'You are late.'

His simple statement - as usual - didn't get much of a reaction out of her. She just stared at him blankly for a moment, and suddenly finding the action odd, turned her head away again. She harrumphed in acknowledgment and they walked.

* * *

_Mountain sakura -_

_In the snow-peak sky_

_No sound._

_- Mizuhara Shuoshi_

The only sounds audible were their footsteps. The night was quiet as they strolled the same path they usually did. They had passed the convenience store, and once again, he commanded her to wait outside as he went in to purchase something, and walked back out to retrieve her. She protested - as usual - and he pacified her - rather unusually - by offering her a simple smile.

She couldn't help but stare at him when he had done that. It wasn't like the redhead to so casually make such tender expressions. Especially not after that one winter evening when he'd surfaced such pain in his heterochromatic eyes.

As they walked thereafter, she even wondered if perhaps he could read her emotions... Well it wasn't surprising anyway. Her mind was embarrassingly shouting out ridiculous praises for his sudden, fleeting pleasantries toward her, which in turn had reminded her of today's earlier incident. '... _Maybe they feel sorry for her or something_...' the words ate at her like acid despite how much she refused to let them affect her.

It was all so ridiculous. So useless. _These feelings are useless_... And as much as she wanted herself to believe that, she knew she couldn't lie to her heart. It squeezed uncomfortably in her chest whenever she would make herself conscious of their proximity. His body heat. His breaths. His every step. She was so conscious of him that at some point she was incredibly tempted to simply stop walking so he would continue ahead of her.

'Why, Seijuro...?' her voice was so small she could barely hear herself.

He stopped walking a foot ahead of her and turned around. As usual he gave her a level look. On any other occasion she would not have cared less for his opinion on things. She never took notice of his expressions. But this time, she scrutinized his face and actually wished he'd given her more of a solid response.

But there was nothing. His face was blank. Unreadable. 'Please don't be so vague, Shinako.'

She clutched the strap of her bag so hard her knuckles went white. 'Why did you agree on keeping me on the team? I'm useless at the sport. I have no reason to be in the club. Why did you let me in...?'

A few cars passed them as they stood on the side of the bridge. The sound of tyres driving over a wet road was the only thing she could hear.

'If it's about what those first years said, then there's no mistake to their words. You have no talent. There's no reason for you to be on the team, and that is correct.'

His words were to be expected. She frowned, about to say something more when he opened his mouth before her. 'However...,' his eyes lost their hard quality, 'your talents lie elsewhere and they intrigue me, Shinako.'

Her jaw clenched. 'I don't understand what you're saying...' he was such a bloody unreadable person.

He aggravated her so much that all she was tempted to do was wring her hands around his neck and strangle him to death. Or throw him into oncoming traffic and watch as he got run over by a bus, but... All she could do was feel her heart race a mile a minute and clutch the front of her uniform.

_I don't want to feel like this._

'I like you, Shinako,' his words were like a slap in the face, 'I like you a lot.'

She was so disoriented by the combination of her uncontrollable feelings and his confusing words that she didn't notice how close he was to her. Even though he was only an inch taller than her, she felt as if she couldn't match up to him for once. She couldn't look him in the eye.

'D-don't say such things unless you mean it...' she took a step away from him, but he only took one forward and grabbed her wrist.

There was no avoiding his intense gaze. Looking him directly in the eyes was like looking into moulting hot lava. 'I don't have the breath to waste on lies.'

His voice was the hardest thing to listen to despite how clearly he articulated each word. There was something fierce about the way he spoke that made it clear enough he truly meant what he was saying. She wanted to believe him... And for a moment then, she actually did.

'Your hair is so beautiful...' he mumbled thoughtlessly, running his fingers through the choppy layers against her face, and she shuddered at his touch.

_Please, I don't want to feel like this._

'You cut it...' she hissed, surprised at how much scorn she mustered into the accusation.

Akashi smiled. 'Yes. I know I did.'

There was another possible way of killing him. Shoving him over the railing and watching him freeze to death in the river below. 'I don't forgive you.'

His eyes narrowed. 'I never apologized.'

'You really are an ugly yokai.'

He squeezed her wrist tighter and she flinched. The scissors instantly came to mind, and she panicked for a moment as he glared at her. His moods changed from one extreme to the next within a matter of seconds, and just how quickly it happened right in front of her eyes caught her off guard.

'Watch your mouth, or I'll bite that tongue of yours out.'

A shiver went up her spine. The combination of cold weather and the Akashi's insanely intimidating personality made her weak. Or perhaps it was her heightening heart rate. Shinako couldn't tell.

'I don't...,' she frowned. Her cheeks were so hot that she actually felt discomforted by their growing heat. 'I don't want to like you, Seijuro. You're so despicable. You just make me so...' he didn't allow her to complete that sentence.

Their lips collided. He kissed her roughly, pushing his lips against hers as he held her firmly in place by her wrist and his other hand snaked around her waist. She got under his skin. Despite how many threats he'd given her, she still never listened. She never obeyed. And all the times she did, he simply waited for her to at the next moment lash out with her fork tongue. But here she was now. Silenced for once. Taken by surprise. Expressing something else apart from what her rebellious attitude would allow.

He took in her burning cheeks. Her soft, full lips. Her closed eyes as he kissed her and the way her eyebrows upturned when he pulled away.

This woman was what drove him crazy. She was what occupied his thoughts if not basketball. And here she was, giving him that submissive expression despite how strong she wants to look, which in turn simply wanted to make Akashi have his way with her right then and there.

Instead, he let go of her. She was so disoriented from what happened moments ago that she stumbled back and simply stared at Akashi's back as he continued walking without another word. Snow began to fall from the sky. The cold infused with her strikingly hot feelings stirred an awfully uncomfortable feeling on her skin. She was freezing on the outside and burning within. It was the complete opposite of what had happened before when he did something similar to this back then when she injured her ankle. Or when they'd visited the aquarium together. Or when he'd left her stranded outside the convenience store that one time.

_I don't want to like you._

She walked forward, gradually jogging as she walked beside him again and kept in line with his stride.

'You're freezing,' he commented after inspecting her for a moment, 'give me your hand.'

She didn't protest. She raised her right hand, and slowly, he enveloped it with his warmth. She felt like the first blanket of snow that under the sun, began to melt. She never imagined his touch would affect her this way. She never imagined anything about him would so intensely impact on her, but here she was, allowing him to hold her freezing hand as they walked beside one another wordlessly.

_I don't want to fall in love with you..._

_But I just can't help it._

_You're that thin layer of frost_

_that after accumulating so much, _

_has become a pile of snow in my heart_

_that I don't want to melt away._

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I want to make an important announcement here to say that the story is NOT yet over! So fear not, I'll still be updating, although I can assure you that there is in fact an end in sight. I'm not going to drag this fan-fiction on, so no worries. :) _

_I've also painted a new artwork of Shinako again, so feel free to check it out on my deviantART! My username is _~safva _and the piece is called 'Wrapped up in you' (;D Smex-filled Shin-chan, hehe)_

_**Feedback**__ is full of smex, mmkay! So YOU are incredibly smexy for following/fav'ing/reviewing this story!_


	20. Chapter 20

Shinako felt backed against the wall despite the fact that she was standing her ground just on the perimeter of the bustling court. She knew the first years of the team were in fact this distanced from her because of the two boys she overheard conversing earlier last week... And yet she never would have imagined to be in such a preposterous situation.

She gulped with some difficulty, feeling a lump rise in her throat.

'That... Is irrelevant...' she said, biting her tongue to gain control of her wavering voice.

'It's so obvious. Since when were you ever so close to that cute blonde from 2 A? Or the sempais? Or even the captain, as a matter of fact?'

She glared at the boy responsible for this comment and immediately noticed how one of the individuals present backed away from the group. 'Well that's clearly none of your business...'

'You're the one who picked this fight.'

Shinako felt her fists shake at her sides as she dug her nails into her palms, struggling to keep her cool considering the absurdity from the first year's mouths. 'Well if you haven't at first spoken such trash about your-' '-_our_-' '-captain, I wouldn't have even bothered with the likes of your prattling.'

... Well, let's rewind to earlier in the day.

Ever since the bridge incident a week and a half ago, there had been absolutely no further development between Shinako and her redhead '_nemesis_'... Not that she expected much out of the boy. However the fact that he actually _kissed_ her meant _some_thing... Didn't it?

Yet she didn't pay much attention to his unchanging strange personality and outlook on her as an entirety. The boy paired with the word _change_ was an incredibly bizarre thing to come to terms with. Instead she didn't give the idea much thought... However that hadn't meant the Akashi didn't occupy her thoughts throughout most of the days that followed.

She was thankful that the basketball seniors were in fact oblivious to the goings-on in their captain's life, and that they hadn't noticed any difference in her attitude either. She was silently grateful for their unawareness in the field, considering Reo and Kotaro were well-known for chewing her head off about it the moment they discovered even a slightly unusual reaction out of their red haired junior.

'Sei-chan? It's unusual that you're asking about _him_, Shin-chan...' Reo's eyes glinted with amusement as he scooted closer to her on the bench.

She frowned in an attempt to hide her reddening cheeks and stuck her nose in the air. 'Well...'

Reo chuckled. 'He's incredibly concentrated on the Winter Cup finals. We're up against Seirin this year, and I think Sei-chan's busy strategizing as we speak...,' he paused, seeming in deep thought as he reached out to grab something from Kotaro's hands, 'and _you_...! Stop taking things without permission.'

Kotaro groaned exaggeratedly and frowned like a kid at Reo from the floor. 'Reo-nee, I was so close...!'

'And that reminds me,' Reo turned to face Shinako on the bench again, handing her the can of energy drink he only moments ago snatched away from Kotaro. 'Shin-chan, you should come more often to practice!'

Kotaro sniggered at that statement, and his unexpected response caught her attention. 'Aka-nee, you can cheer us on from the bench; ha-ha.'

If perhaps she was a sensitive person, she would have found Kotaro's derogatory comment highly upsetting. However there was nothing striking to his words. The Akashi - ever since that one day on the court when they'd argued during a one-on-one match - had somehow become accustomed to sitting her out of the mock games they played. She wasn't entirely sure what the boy was achieving by this. However she could only assume that the Akashi knew something she perhaps didn't... Which in turn reminded her what an awfully vexing chap he really was.

It was the end of the school day when Shinako lugged her large math textbooks with her to the basketball court. During the weekend was the Winter Cup finals, however it was regrettable; really; that she was unable to attend the match. She imagined she would go (perhaps with Natsume if not by herself), however her grandfather's sudden decline in health that Saturday had given her no choice but to stay at home.

She was relatively exhausted from the late nights she stayed up keeping an eye on her sickly grandfather.

'_I'm fine, Shin; really. It's the weekend. You should go out and enjoy yourself,'_ he often commented for the duration of that day; however Shinako would have none of it.

Throughout the entire day the school was relatively at peace. This wasn't entirely odd; however during the breaks Shinako noticed something incredibly strange...

The basketball seniors were an unusually sullen bunch. She had expected them to - as on any other ordinary occasion - be bubbling with excitement the minute they noticed her on the field, and yet she had gotten no such reaction out of them. Apart from the depressing air they exuded, they were as well awfully quiet throughout the lunch break. Shinako attempted questioning their incredibly withdrawn states; however this was to no avail. Every time she somehow directed the conversation to the trio, they were once again reduced to an even more sombre state if this were perhaps even possible.

* * *

It was only Reo who seemed in the least cheery despite his quiet company; however his chirpiness looked awfully forced. There was a painful awkwardness that blanketed the four as they sat together during the lunch breaks, and quite determined to fish out some information about their currently glum conditions, retreated to the basketball court after school for extra-curricular activities.

Final exams were just around the corner, and the basketball served as a means of Shinako relieving her mental stress... Not to mention she was now a woman on a mission.

She glanced about the court for signs of the red haired Akashi, however to no avail. Her searching gaze only swept over a few first years that were already changed into their gym clothes, standing in groups.

As usual, the boys avoided eye-contact with her and kept their distance. She still wasn't entirely sure of the reason behind their evasive reactions to her collectively. And yet she didn't bother trying to fathom this anomaly either. She wasn't certain whether she believed Natsume's word of their ridiculous assumptions about her being the actual 'sibling' of the Akashi because of how awfully preposterous the thought was... Wasn't her last name enough proof of that?

She brushed off these thoughts though and began her first warm-up lap. Despite the fact that she would most likely be ordered by the Akashi to sit out the mock matches, he hadn't mentioned to her (as yet) that her warm-ups were in fact a prohibition as well.

'I can't believe what happened at the Winter Cup...'

Shinako eased her fast-paced jogging the moment she caught wind of a particular comment one of the boy's had made as she took the corner.

'Yeah, and to think Akashi-san was invincible...'

'I really looked up to him. Guess even geniuses make mistakes.'

'Although that was the second time, actually, that I saw him almost lose it. _Kowai, kowai_! The first was at the beginning of the year when...'

Shinako stopped listening to them. She only turned on her heel, breathing heavily as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, and on noticing her approach, every one of the boys in the group turned to face her direction.

They stared at her with what looked like an incredible mixture of surprise and apprehension.

'Um...' one of the boy's started, clearly unsure of how to respond to her sudden appearance in the group.

However Shinako stuck her nose in the air and stared at the one in particular who she was certain made the first comment she heard on passing by. 'What are you guys talking about?'

There was genuine concern etched into every one of the boys' faces. They looked clearly taken aback by her sudden interest in their earlier conversation, however the majority of them shifted uncomfortably beneath her expectant gaze.

'Well... Uh...,' one of them started, breaking the uncomfortable silence. 'We were just discussing the Winter Cup final on Saturday...'

Shinako gave them a level look. 'What happened?'

A couple of the boys looked quite startled by her response. She cocked an eyebrow at their genuine disbelief, and was about to say something when one of the boys cut her off: 'Rakuzan lost by a 1 point difference.'

She stared blankly at the boy as he whispered this as if it were the code to Fort Knox, and blinked a few times to register this information. _Ah_. It was no wonder the basketball trio was in such a sad state of affair. She was surprised however at the fact that this possibility never for even a second crossed her mind. Perhaps it was because of how hushed the students were that she never imagined their current circumstance... Or perhaps at how ridiculously _good_ the team really was that the thought of them actually _losing_ a match never seemed a possibility in the first place.

'To think we're still being worked like dogs even though we lost...' one of the boys from the back mumbled, and this caught Shinako's attention.

'Hold your tongue,' she snapped, startling the students at the front.

Even though the boy was in fact a difficult person to deal with, she still had a small amount of respect for him in the basketball court considering he had a natural talent for the sport. However now that she was actually made aware of the juniors and their obliviousness to this fact, she couldn't help but feel enraged slightly by their comments.

'Look who's talking; his sibling.' Was this statement perhaps meant to be _insulting_?

'Yeah, don't you and Akashi-san fight all the time?'

She didn't understand where the boys were going with this conversation, yet what she most certainly was aware of was her building agitation with their comments.

'That's incredibly pointless for me to answer...' she was tempted to fold her arms, however the action at that point somehow made her wonder if perhaps it would make her look even smaller.

'You two don't get along. I wonder why you're even on the team...'

Ah, where had she heard this before? She was quite taken aback by the sudden disconcert in the boy's question, and took a moment to fully observe him. He was relatively tall (most definitely taller than the Akashi) with light hair and dark eyes, and his open body language suggested he was in fact ready to pick a fight with her... Not that she cared for the boy's willing invitation to banter. To be honest, all she was tempted to do then was simply walk away from him in order to contradict his predictions of riling her up.

However her silence seemed to spread a wicked smile on his face as he tilted his head over his shoulder. 'Why did you join in the first place, Ashikaga-_sempai_?'

There was an incredibly scornful tone he used as he hissed out the honorific to her name, and this in turn only fuelled her growing dislike for the boy. Was he always a regular junior on the team? She was quite surprised at the fact that his stinking attitude hadn't cost him his membership in the club as yet, and watched as the group scattered with the heightening intensity the two of them shared.

'That... Is irrelevant...' she choked out with some difficulty, yet she was surprised by her growing tolerance for the young lad's immorality, even in such a situation.

'It's so obvious. Since when were you ever so close to that cute blonde from 2 A? Or the sempais? Or even the captain, as a matter of fact?'

She glared at the boy for the incredible amount of questions he managed in a single breath. 'Well that's clearly none of your business...'

'You're the one who picked this fight.'

Shinako felt her fists shake at her sides as she dug her nails into her palms, struggling to keep her cool around the absurdity from the first year's mouth. 'Well if you haven't at first spoken such trash about your-' '-_our_-' '-captain, I wouldn't have even bothered with the likes of your prattling. In case you've forgotten, that boy is the reason why every single one of us is here today despite the fact that we were defeated. However I honestly have no time to waste arguing with your little girl mentality. I'm leaving.'

A cold spell had befallen the group as each one of the boys' faces darkened in shock and mild horror. They looked awfully pale by the icy chill from behind her, and wondering just what sort of apparition they were perhaps staring at, Shinako turned around to face the paranormal entity responsible... However what her eyes set sight on was unexpected.

On any other occasion she would have expected to see the red haired captain of the basketball team throwing daggers at them all (her included), however she was greatly surprised on noticing Eikichi tower her from behind.

'Shin, is this newbie giving you problems?' he grumbled in that usually tired undertone of his as he rubbed the back of his head.

Most of the boys scattered by now, leaving only the light-haired one behind as he stood beneath Eikichi's fatigued gaze. It was evident by the way he tensed on coming face to face with the large senior that he was in fact ready to drop the subject with Shinako, and yet there was still a stubborn glint in his eye she decided to overlook. Just what on earth was the boy trying to achieve back there?

'No, Nebuya...,' she turned around and closed her eyes, 'it's nothing.'

'Oi, who gave you permission to mess with Aka-nee?' Kotaro appeared from behind, grabbing the boy playfully in a headlock as he dragged him away noisily towards the assembly of boys preparing for a friendly match.

And just how on earth did such _intolerance_ escape the impeccable scrutiny of the Akashi? He really was - after all - affected in some great way of his own by the unexpected turn of events at the Winter Cup, she was certain... And yet the thought seemed so impossible. The Akashi? _Defeated_? She couldn't help but feel slightly relieved she didn't in fact attend the match that Saturday considering the endless possibilities to the boy's lunacy... only slightly, though.

Shinako walked home that day alone. She felt an incredible combination of both peculiarity and - what took her a painfully long moment to accept - loneliness. A part of her felt a pang of regret for ever being put in such a difficult situation over the weekend, however there was simply no point in dwelling on the past.

The feeling was never this easily possible for the Ashikaga. She stared beyond the school gates into the incoming rainclouds, and turned on her heel again just as quickly.

'Mibuchi...,' she couldn't believe what she was about to do next. 'Can I ask you something?'

_In moving water_

_Chasing its reflection - _

_Dragonfly._

_- Chiyo-Ni_


	21. Chapter 21

The absolute absurdity! The spontaneous _nonsense _that spouted from her mouth! Shinako was in utter disbelief at the lengths she'd gone to honestly do something so bloody ridiculous. Not to mention the sheer torture she had to undergo in order to attain the embarrassing thing she asked for!

Never in a million years had she imagined she would actually bring herself to _care_ for the red haired boy who on many occasions threatened her well-being with his unexpectedly-timed demented bursts of psychotic intention! She felt quite ashamed for even feeling the slightest of compassion for the Akashi, however her feelings in this regard were in fact beyond her control.

Her legs simply moved on their own to the written address in her notebook, and now that she stood outside the large wooden gate to what appeared to be a park of sorts on the other side, Shinako questioned the reliability of Reo's directions... Well, considering Kotaro was the one to correct one of his written errors on the page, Shinako began to doubt that the place they led her to was in fact where the Akashi dwelled.

However on further inspection, she noted the name _Akashi_ engraved beside the gate on a tall rectangular piece of granite that peeked out from beneath the large branch of a towering tree.

Shinako was unsure of what to do next. Certainly she had her dignity... And yet she was willing to throw down her pride for some God-awful reason because she actually felt _concerned_ for the boy. It all seemed so preposterous, really. Her standing outside the front gate to the Akashi's house; simply standing there without much of a purpose as she tightened her grip on the strap of her school bag, deliberating whether or not to stay or leave...

And just as she decided this was far too outrageous for her to take in, the large gate ahead let out a startling _click,_ and thereafter slid open smoothly. She stood at the side of the front gate and just stared at the thing as if the inanimate object spoke to her, and for a moment even pondered darting the opposite direction.

However she was not presented with the delightful opportunity due to the sudden appearance of a relatively old man at the other side of the opened gate. She stared at him as he stood clutching a black umbrella that was in considerable accord with his meticulous black clothing, and Shinako was instantly reminded of Reo's earlier gleeful explanation of the '_following events_', as he liked to have called it. He and Kotaro had pointed out particular details she on any other occasion would have never even imagined the two were capable of doing, and one of the factors included the mention of the Akashi being an incredibly important person in his household...

'Um...,' she started, clutching her bag with an awful lot of unease as she stood across from the old man.

However his blank expression was unchanging. 'May I help you?'

Shinako shifted uncomfortably in place, and reconsidered her unexpected trip to the Akashi's home in that moment. It was awkward enough that she actually _asked_ the basketball seniors (of _all _people) for the boy's address, and now to state the reason for her visit to what appeared to be the home's butler put her in an awfully humiliating circumstance.

She couldn't help but suddenly feel incredibly stupid as she stood beneath the darkening sky without a response ready for the older man's question. _Ridiculous_. It was absolutely, unconditionally _ridiculous _after all.

'The young master is home, however I'm afraid he hadn't mentioned the expectancy of guests.'

_Young master_? The way the old man addressed the young redhead most definitely gave her the image that perhaps the Akashi was indeed the son of a political figure of some sort.

'Oh...,' she paused, 'I'm sorry for the trouble then...' she squeaked the apology out to her dismay, and dropped her head as she turned to leave.

'Ah,' the old man started again, stopping Shinako in her tracks. 'However I'm assuming the company would perhaps do him some good. Follow me.'

_Company? Do him some good?_

She followed the old man, feeling discomforted suddenly by the butler's baffling statement. Slowly as she walked, she even began to regret ever _doing_ such a foolish, impromptu thing again.

Ah, how cunning the two third years were! She couldn't believe their incredible ability to sway her once solid resolve with simple words, however she was certain it was all the red haired boy's fault for ever placing such fragile feelings in her usually barricaded heart. It was so easy for her to be manipulated because of them, and this fact in turn only agitated Shinako because there was simply no way she could get rid of the piling emotions.

She had given up overlooking her feelings for Akashi. She had completely submitted to his presence, his voice, his touch... And even his psychosis. _Hah_! The absolute treachery the boy was capable of!

Shinako mulled over these things as she walked beneath the gloomy sky, and it was not long after when she found herself standing directly in front of the large entrance to the Akashi household. She was so lost in her own thoughts that ran a mock within her head that she hadn't even noticed they walked up the lengthy driveway to the top where a wooden and concrete manor stood on a redwood foundation.

It looked incredibly expensive even on first glance, and she noted that the door had opened for them almost automatically. It was later when she discovered the house servants were in fact in charge of overseeing the home as a whole, and she had at first assumed this from the silence of the traditional, mid 60's-style genkan on entering.

She glanced about to take in her surroundings and could only note the amazing dark wood traditional elements and cutting-edge modern squares of the home. Surrounding the entrance were tall, floor-high shoji covered by rain shutters that spread out into large glass windows rimmed with rich mahogany.

Directly in front of her - she noted - was a large empty space, and just a few feet further into the dimly-lit expanse was a thick wall of glass. Shinako was in absolute wonderment at the incredible greenery the large window exposed, allowing the traditional Japanese garden at the center of the home to serve as an incredible portrait of sorts. An external corridor extended a meter against the other side of the glass, and Shinako couldn't help but imagine the daily activities of the boy in such a large, extravagant home... Not that she expected any less of the Akashi.

First was his incredibly haughty aura; his captaincy of the official Rakuzan basketball team; the title he held in his household as '_the young master_'; and then the absolute luxury the boy lived in on a daily basis.

* * *

She mentally complimented the home as she began removing her shoes, and the old man guided her up onto the raised redwood foundation. The wooden flooring looked incredibly inviting, however she noticed something white flash past on the other side of the window in the distance.

She stopped mid-action and started for the front door again. The moment she was outside, she rounded the corner of the house where she noted a pebblestone pathway led neatly to the other side. What was that? She was certain that whatever it was most definitely wasn't lightning... And if not, just what could it have been?

Curiously she followed the path, brushing the tips of her fingers against the wooden panels of the house as she walked beneath the towering greenery on her left. She proceeded with caution, vigilant of her surroundings considering she could hear the musically flowing water of a stream further down the ravine beneath the overgrowing trees and shrubs.

However moments later, she found herself basking in the peeping sunlight that managed to break through the dark clouds overhead. The blinding ray shone over the large area of grass, and Shinako had to shield her narrowed eyes from just how bright the dusk sun was... And yet what she set her eyes upon next took her breath away.

She was incredibly surprised at the spectacle, staring with wide eyes and her mouth agape unconsciously as a white horse strolled beneath the charity of the sun. Its white mane gleamed beneath the brightness of the overhead star in a most exquisite way, and she stared in awe at the flawless beast in the center of the vast garden. Her eyes traveled further up, and she stood squinting at the individual mounted on the animal's back, noting it was a young man dressed meticulously in what appeared to be a black coat and a white pants. He looked awfully professional, and Shinako's eyes widened even more the moment she registered the _young man_ was in fact the red haired boy she knew... Or better yet, the _young master _himself.

She found it difficult suddenly to take in how incredibly ephemeral the entire scene looked... Not to mention how very strange this discovery was indeed! She would have never imagined the boy was an equestrian of sorts, and quite startled by this new information about him, couldn't help but dwell even more on how very strange the Akashi was altogether.

She was so consumed with the image of the boy on the white horse and the stunning portrait he painted in front of her very eyes, that Shinako failed to notice him dismount the steed. She was certain his eyes trained eyes already spotted her in the corner of the relatively stretched field, and simply watched him as he seemed rather occupied adjusting the horse's bridle.

There was something so incredibly picturesque about the entire scene, that Shinako found it difficult to tear her eyes from. However she was even more startled (if perhaps she wasn't anymore surprised already) when she noticed the Akashi angle his body in her direction and outstretch his hand. She couldn't make out what expression he had on, yet she imagined - by his beckoning gesture - that he was in fact quite calm and collected.

The thought eased her racing thoughts and heart as she hesitantly began walking towards his silent call for her. Slowly however she rediscovered her confidence, and when she reached him on the field was she given the chance to take in the entirety of the large white horse.

She was so consumed with the animal's beauty in the escaping sunlight that she hadn't realized she'd been holding in her breath all this time. She exhaled, feeling Akashi's gloved hand raise her own gently as he pressed her fingers against the top of the horse's head. She had never imagined it was possible, but with that single touch, she instantly felt a connection with the beast. She stroked its ivory mane with careful affection and gradually, she stepped towards it when she noted the animal was as comfortable with her as she was with it, and pressed the top of her forehead against its muzzle.

'She's a half Arabian,' Akashi said in a low, tempered voice. _'Johara_.'

Shinako stroked the horse's coat, admiring how well-kept she was... Well, considering the perfectionist owner she had, there was no doubt he kept a watchful eye over the animal. She found this thought quite amusing for a moment, and smiled at the red haired boy from over her shoulder.

'She's very beautiful, Seijuro.'

He acknowledged her statement with his silence, and she watched him, stroking the animal as he walked to stand at its side.

'Shinako...,' he called crisply, outstretching his hand again. 'Come here.'

She deliberated his request, but after a long moment of simply staring at his hand, decided to take it. She wasn't entirely sure what he was planning, however she highly doubted that whatever it was _wouldn't _entail something slightly absurd... And absurd it was! Shinako wasn't sure how he managed to convince her to mount the steed. Perhaps it was his his tender goading. The light squeeze he gave her fingers as helped her get onto the back of the horse... Or perhaps it was the smile he offered her that made her turn into butter in his hands.

'Um...,' she constantly glanced beside her to take in how unexpectedly _high_ she really was from the ground. 'Seijuro, I don't think this is a good idea, considering I _am_ after all wearing a skirt...'

However Akashi only smiled. 'Nonsense,' he replied, tugging forward gently on the horse's reins as he goaded it forward and Shinako stifled a shriek at the sudden movement beneath her.

'Calm down,' he mumbled at her as she stared at him with pleading eyes. 'Breathe.'

Shinako closed her eyes for a moment and adjusted her position on the horse, being incredibly careful not to shift around too much. She did as he told, scolding herself to stop panicking so much, however this problem was instantly resolved the moment Akashi stepped back to correct her seating posture.

'Back straight,' he said, tapping her back with his riding crop, which in turn sent a jolt of electricity through her body. 'Legs loose; do not squeeze them against her sides.'

Ah, and the incredible mechanics to the sport! She uneasily followed his commands, constantly reminding herself to remain calm as she watched him remove his helmet. He presented it to her, and she took it from him with a considerable amount of hesitation. Noting the fact that he was being so particular about what she assumed came across as a rather casual exercise, she couldn't have cared less for how honestly ridiculous she must have looked dressed in such a jumble of clothes, riding a horse.

The Akashi seemed awfully amused despite his usually bland expressions, and showed this rare show of emotion in a crooked smile that spread slowly across his lips.

'Stop it,' she snapped, frowning at him as she felt her cheeks warm in the most uncomfortable of ways. 'This is an awfully daunting thing, and it's my first time actually riding a _horse_, Seijuro.'

The smug look on his face however hadn't disappeared. 'I didn't say a word, Shinako.'

She harrumphed, raising her chin to adjust the thin strap beneath her jaw without removing her hands from the horse's crest. 'Well that expression of yours says otherwise.'

He tugged the horse forward gently by what appeared to be the lead rope as he handed her the reins, and this caught Shinako off-guard. She stifled a squeak, clutching fervently onto the leather straps attached to the bridle, but managed to remember his words as she began to control her breathing. She calmed down considerably after a moment, noting that the Akashi was in fact guiding the horse very gently along an imaginary track on the field.

She straightened her back quickly before he could remind her about it, and grew considerably confident even though she still felt quite overwhelmed by the new sensation on the inside. At first, she found a slight fascination in keeping her eyes ahead of her, however her attention gradually drifted to the red haired boy.

She watched him intently, observing the incredibly tender way he treated the animal as he walked close beside it. He stroked it on occasion, and Shinako couldn't help but feel something soft rise within her chest each time she breathed in. Her irritatingly dormant attraction for the Akashi surfaced with an incredibly ferocious vengeance in that instance as she watched how attentive he was with the horse.

She had never imagined he was in fact even capable of expressing such lingering affection. Despite how honestly cold and distant he really was, Shinako couldn't help but feel the secret warmth he shared with the animal tickle her in a most bizarre however pleasant, fleeting way.

'Are you alright?' Akashi questioned, glancing at her calmly from over his shoulder.

Shinako smiled. 'Yes, I'm fine, thank you...,' she paused to breathe, 'Although getting off...'

He didn't give her the time to complete that statement. She watched him as he made his way to the side of the horse and raised his single hand in front of her. She took it, still slightly uneasy considering she wasn't entirely sure what the boy was up to, however the moment he tugged at her hand, she froze in position.

'Seijuro, this is incredibly scary. Give me your other hand as well.'

'You shall do with one hand.'

Shinako stared at him with a considerable amount of horror in her eyes and parted lips. Ah, the absolute treachery of the redhead! If perhaps she weren't in such a situation where she actually required the boy's help, she may have willingly given him a piece of her mind about his horridly cold response.

'Trust me,' he said, lowering his chin only slightly so that he peeked up at her from under his thick red lashes.

She couldn't deny how honestly charming he looked whenever he did that. It was one of those rare occasions; she noted; where he seemingly enjoyed whatever discomfort he stirred within her tumultuous heart. Ah, and how smugly he manipulated her feelings for him! The despicable, however provocative, delectable red haired boy!

Shinako swallowed with slight difficulty before carefully adjusting her seated position on the horse's back, allowing both legs to dangle against a single side. She was so concentrated on dismounting that she was unaware of how tightly she gripped onto the Akashi's single hand with her fingers. However he showed no signs of discomfort.

He simply smiled most encouragingly, and needing no further reassurance by his fleeting show of affection, dropped into his arms. The warmth of his embrace was almost immediate, and even though it only lasted less than a second, Shinako was more than satisfied by his incredibly tempered mood for the duration of this afternoon.

And yet as these thoughts raced through her mind, she found herself wondering if perhaps the loss of the Winter Cup final triggered some sort of switch in the boy... Somehow it didn't seem impossible, yet she wasn't given much time to dwell on this (or to even be surprised by how carried away she'd gotten by the boy and his horse) as she felt a comfortable, however startling weight at the back of her head.

A chill dramatically traveled from her feet to the top of her head in visible sequence as she shuddered at the incredibly foreign sensation. She was frozen to the spot, squeezing even tighter on Akashi's hand as she stared at him with widening eyes.

'What...,' she paused, stifling a squeak as she felt the horse breathe into her hair, 's-Seijuro, is this normal horse behavior...?'

Akashi stared at her calculatingly before lowering his head in a way she wasn't often subject to. She wasn't entirely certain about the events that followed, however considering how awfully bizarre and terribly _unexpected_ the boy's next response was, all she remembered was a light chuckle escaping his lips. He looked terribly amused by... Well, whatever it was, she was unsure of. Yet his startling show of amusement gave rise to that same bubbly, floating feeling within her.

The boy's laughter - she noted with incredible detail despite the fact that she unsure of what reached her ears - was the equivalent to something as pleasant as the chiming of a small bell.

'She seems to have taken a liking to you, Shinako,' he explained briefly, however her attention was only on his lips as they set back into a flat line.

'O-oh...' she managed to respond rather absent-mindedly.

Shinako was so consumed with the boy's sudden... Change in overall attitude. Just what on _earth _happened that Saturday at the Winter Cup? She stared at him, lost in complete fascination as he pulled the horse forward by the lead rope, and she was given no choice but to entertain the steed as they reached the stable together... And how easily the red haired Akashi stirred scorching however pleasant, floating feelings within her.

_A star is left_

_By falling_

_Fireworks._

_- Sakai Hoitsu_

* * *

_**A/N**__: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ I'd like to take the time to once again say that the story is NOT yet over! :D So stay tuned for a few more updates. Hope you're all enjoying this fan-fiction, and once more - ah - thank you so much, everyone, for all your support. It truly means the world to me._

_**Feedback**__ is as flaming hot as Charizard. YOU are equally as hawt for following/fav'ing/reviewing this story! XD_


	22. Chapter 22

_'What_?' Natsume's eyes widened dramatically as she stared at her red haired friend from across the desk; their noses dangerously close to one another.

Shinako stared at her blankly in response as she gathered her few belongings from the desk. 'Please don't make me repeat myself, Natsume...'

'You're going with those scary-looking sempais...,' she shuddered, 'for _basketball practice_!? Shin-chan, what is happening to you!?'

'... I don't see exactly see why this is so odd...'

The blonde looked as if she were about to rip her hair out with the menacing expression that surfaced on her face, and Shinako stared at her reaction bug-eyed. 'Shin-chan, everyone's in exam fever and you're playing basketball...! I am so jelly of you right now!'

'... Natsume...'

'... Yeah?'

'That comment was incredibly unnecessary...'

'If you don't like how I roll, _get out_.'

After receiving one of Shinako's infamous death glares, Natsume shrunk in place before announcing her leave... Was it honestly that bizarre for her to still be an active member in the basketball club even in such dire academic circumstances? She was certain she was destined for great exam scores considering her brutal study timetable.

_Yes. There's absolutely nothing to fret over_, she repeated to herself as she walked through the orange-stained corridors to the entrance of the school. The building was incredibly quiet throughout the duration of the day, once again giving rise to the atmosphere a school in the duration of an exam period ought to have.

She walked towards the large court and on entering - unsurprisingly - an awkward blanket immediately settled over the first years present in the room. Most of the boys - after the brief silence following Shinako's appearance - returned to the small conversations in their respective groups. The third years were nowhere to be found.

Shinako didn't pay them her attention as she headed for the change rooms. Certainly she wouldn't allow the younger boys and their ludicrous mindsets to stop her from visiting the club every so often. Besides, she was; after all; a member just like them.

The boy's outburst (which happened a few days ago) was something that troubled her thoughts despite how much she fought back his petty words transforming into something of a more festering nature. As ridiculous as his assumptions were, she couldn't help but dwell on his words for a moment thereafter, however on seeing the red haired boy himself later that day, her concerns simply melted away so easily...

And just the thought of that afternoon she'd spent with him only days ago gave rise to an awfully foreign sensation at the center of her chest.

It was an incredibly embarrassing thing to feel considering she was in fact in the court ready for her usual warm-ups. She was certain her cheeks were a bright pink of sorts, however she quickly concealed the feelings with a few hurried steps into the ground. She started off relatively calmly and continued in a comfortable pace as she rounded a corner of the court's perimeter.

It was amazing how the simple increase in heart rate alleviated her common stress. The physical strain absorbed her mental fatigue with ease, and occupied with controlling her breathing as she almost completed her extra second lap, Shinako failed to take notice of the ball that approached ahead of her.

Her eyes widened at the sight of it, however it was far too late to respond appropriately to the impending danger ahead. She stepped forward without thought, breaking her controlled pace suddenly and she tripped over the ball. Feeling something in her ankle shift worryingly, Shinako thereafter felt her shoulder collide with the solid wooden panels beneath her and grunted in agony on impact.

* * *

Reo swept his eyes over the assortment of goods that was neatly shelved within the confines of the convenience store. If it were any earlier in the day, perhaps he would have been remotely interested in purchasing something. However now as he stood in the store, he couldn't help but feel put off the countless goods by Kotaro's incessant chatter. He would often wonder how the boy managed to live alone, but assumed even in his lonesomeness he spoke to the walls.

'Nebuya, I thought you didn't like junk!' the light-haired boy pointed accusingly at the pile of packaged goods in Eikichi's arms.

He lugged them to the counter effortlessly. 'I don't, but I've got to eat _something_,' he mumbled thoughtlessly as he paid for the goods.

Kotaro frowned, grabbing a few things himself quickly and pouted. 'Reo-nee, I don't want to eat takeout today.'

'Now, now...' he pacified Kotaro as the boy continued to complain about the larger one's ridiculous appetite.

However their common banter didn't hold his attention for long. The sudden sound of heavy rain outside distracted him from mediating the argument, and he stared outside the store at the dark sky. He assumed earlier on from the incoming dark clouds that the Friday evening looked overcast considering the sky had been threatening for the past week.

'Wow, is that the rain that's so noisy?'

_'Pfft_,' Reo grinned, 'no, Hayama, it's you.'

He tuned out Kotaro's complaints against his statement and couldn't help but feel slightly bothered by something. He couldn't place his discomfort and it frustrated him only a little. He brushed off the uncanny feeling though and returned to pacifying his partner's complaints as they moved along isles in the store.

* * *

_'Sempai_...!' she was certain she heard someone call, however she was far too pre-occupied with the horrid pulsating sensation in her right ankle to give the concerned cries much attention.

'Ouch...,' she frowned at first, however scowled then due to the sudden sharp pain in her leg.

The sensation was so intense that Shinako was certain her ankle was burning from the inside out. It felt like a flame was burning the flesh from within, and she bit her bottom lip so hard it turned white. She could feel tears brimming in her eyes, and naturally her nose and cheeks reddened in the process.

It was an embarrassing reaction, however she had no control over her instinctual response to the awful pain. A thick, unbearable stillness enveloped the room as she attempted hiding her twisting expression beneath the curtain of her red hair, however it was to no avail.

A few first years stepped forward uneasily to help, but Shinako was so distracted by the gripping pain that traveled from her shin to her ankle that she couldn't react to their voiceless requests. Instead she could only remain motionless on the cold floor; paralyzed by the dreadful impact of the fall. Shinako was certain she wouldn't be able to move without receiving a great deal of pain from the action, and too scared to even slightly change her position on the ground, she decided it best to simply remain still perhaps until the burning subsided...

And yet how long that would take, she had no idea. 'Are you okay...?' a familiar voice asked timidly, and a shadow extended over her on the floor.

She looked up after a moment's silence and stared at the outstretched hand in front of her. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that shadowed his features, however it only took a second for her to place the individual.

It was the first year she'd argued with a few days before.

'Y-yeah, I'm...' the searing sensation in her calf muscle as it traveled up from her ankle cut her off.

She gritted her teeth. The pain was so excruciating she could barely form a coherent sentence with even the slightest movement. She was already in an awkward enough position on the floor, and unable to shift even a little due to the impending bouts of pain that awaited her, she could feel her palms begin to burn as she used her arms as a means to balance her body weight on.

As humiliated as she felt beneath the countless stares of the first year boys as she lay on the floor incapacitated, she was in far too much agony to register the bubbling chatter within the group at the far end... However the mumbling seized almost instantly with the sound of the large door to the court opening.

'I never gave any of you permission to slack off,' the voice cut through the air like a knife through silk.

Akashi walked forward through the scattering crowd. The boys all regrouped at the center of the court and quickly began arranging teams for a mock match considering their previous one was disrupted.

The redhead had been occupied with admin work just moments earlier, and as he predicted, the Ashikaga was present in the court... However just what she was doing, he was certain he hadn't foreseen. He noted the boy standing a foot away from her with his peripheral vision, and dipped his chin as his eyes narrowed dangerously at the meter-length distance between the two.

The boy's arm was extended. He reached forward with his hand; his fingertips only inches away from her.

He stepped toward them unnoticeably and seized the boy's hand within the blink of an eye. It took the first year a long second to register the sudden action, and completely taken by surprise, it took him another slow moment to comprehend the intense pain in his wrist. Akashi applied a great amount of pressure to the fickle joint and bent it back.

Shinako watched the unfolding scene with growing shock and horror. Like the first year, she was equally as taken aback by his quick appearance... However the moment she noticed him enter the court from behind the boys, she somehow anticipated a response of sorts from him.

And yet the new height his lunacy appeared to reach from his incredibly aggressive reaction was most definitely not one of her assumptions. His counteraction caught her so off-guard that the only thing that brought her back to her senses was the younger boy's cry of pain.

'S-stop...,' she choked up; her voice clearly inaudible considering nothing ahead of her had changed in the least.

She panicked. Her eyes widened suddenly when she took full notice of the Akashi's terrifying expression, and noted by his steely eyes and thin-set lips that he was in fact willing to snap the boy's wrist... And Shinako knew the boy was not to be tempered with in this regard. There was no doubt in her mind that he would do it, because she was all too familiar with those menacing eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

'Seijuro...,' she inhaled deeply despite the pain the action caused her as she shifted only a little in position. 'Calm down, he was just...'

His eyes shifted to her place on the floor and a cold chill instantaneously traveled the length of her spine. If she could perhaps describe the incredible height of intensity in his eyes, the closest thing she would be able to muster would be the eerie glower of a predator. He looked so hell-bent on destroying the boy she couldn't help but actually worry for the first year's life more than his right hand.

'Stay out of this.' He whispered so menacingly she was certain he meant it as a threat more than anything else.

However Akashi's attention shifted back to the boy who was at this point brought to his knees due to the immense pain that stemmed from his incredibly strained wrist. 'Your inadequacy shall cost you.'

That was it. That was the last straw. Shinako was so consumed with the horrid mixture of discomfort, pain, and distress that all she was capable of doing in that moment was reaching for her shoe. She pushed aside the fact that she would be in turn somehow gravely straining her already damaged ankle, however that fact hadn't bothered her if she could one way or another put a stop to the red haired boy's fit of hostility.

Despite the interlacing shoelaces, she managed to yank it forward with incredible difficulty, and grunting, she launched the thing forward. It whacked him against the side of his head and a few gasps emanated from the crowd they managed to gather from behind. Shinako blinked a few long times, incredibly surprised at the fact that she actually got a hit in... She honestly hadn't expected that out of the boy. She had anticipated he would easily just whack the thing away with his hand, or even side-step it, but... Nothing.

All that followed was - to Shinako's great surprise - the boy actually releasing the younger one's wrist and then turning to her on the floor. She watched as the first year; still looking awfully shaken up by what just happened moments ago; stood up again uneasily and moved to join the rest of the boys in the group.

An uncomfortable silence once again blanketed the room, however the Akashi didn't seem fazed by this in the least. Instead he looked incredibly nonchalant despite the ruckus he caused a few seconds ago, and Shinako - along with the first years - could only stare at him in anticipation of something dangerous ensuing.

The group of younger boys behind him though didn't even wait for his signal to leave. They had already retreated, quickly leaving the court when they noted it was perhaps for the better after all... And Shinako couldn't help but feel slightly envious of their ability to escape.

... Only slightly though.

'You never listen,' he commented, staring at her for a long moment without blinking, and she couldn't deny the incredible height of intimidation that exuded from him when he did that.

She felt significantly smaller in his presence suddenly, but she didn't break eye contact with him. Despite the strong front she sustained even in the Akashi's emperor-like presence, she was burning on the inside with a fierce irritation and disbelief.

They continued to stare each other down for a moment thereafter, and the possibility of him simply leaving her there never left her mind for even a second. There were just so many reactions the boy was capable of that she could not for the life of her imagine his next response.

But instead of reaching for her hand - which was in fact _one _of the many possibilities she imagined - he knelt to her level and placed a single hand at the small of her back and his other beneath her knees. She clutched onto him fervently, groaning from the immense pain that unexpectedly hit her like a heat wave due to the sudden change of position. She was certain the inflamed area was actually on _fire_ considering the hot, pulsing sensation that throbbed from the small joint to her calf muscle in her right leg.

'Ow...' she bit her lip again in an attempt to fight back the excruciating pain that traveled to every nerve ending in her body.

'You were incredibly careless,' he stated, sitting her on the bench carefully as he moved to examine her ankle on the other end. 'You strained it far worse this time than the last. Keep it elevated, and keep applying pressure to it like this,'

Shinako felt his hand enclose her ankle suddenly and he pressed it. She squeaked at the sudden wave of pain that traveled from the area consistently and shut her eyes to somehow ease the intolerable agony. She wasn't sure if perhaps the Akashi _enjoyed_ watching her in pain, however she assumed his inner sadist surfaced with the ghost of a smile she noticed on his thin lips. He seemed incredibly concentrated on tending to her injured ankle, but noting the extent it actually affected her, his fingers around the area loosened considerably.

She sat up after a moment and stared in shock as she managed to move the joint relatively well despite the fact that she was certain it took some heavy damage back there... So maybe the boy was some sort of physician too. The thought didn't seem at all ridiculous considering he _did _after all know an awful lot about the mechanics of the human body...

But mostly, she felt a warm, fuzzy, floating feeling within the center of her chest when she noticed him staring at her from beneath his red lashes. Ah, the red haired boy's charm...! She was certain she would never get used to these sorts of actions of his.

How was it so easy for him to change her moods from one extreme to the other in such a short space of time? She was incredibly sure that only moments earlier she felt considerably annoyed and aggravated with his response to the first year's help, and yet so easily...

So easily he managed to manipulate her piling feelings for him.

'I'm sorry for hitting you with my shoe...,' she stated rather frankly, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment with how awfully embarrassing that really must have been. 'Although Seijuro, you really need to control those...,' she paused, staring at him scrupulously in search of an appropriate word, '_frightening_ urges of yours.'

Her words hadn't gotten any sort of expression out of the boy, and this in turn tallied her suspicions of him being utterly uninterested in her opinions. Even though on any other occasion she would find his blank response frustrating, this time she didn't mind the silence they shared thereafter.

She felt so comfortable in his presence that without much thought, she raised her hand and extended it. Noting no sort of reaction from the boy apart from his unmoving eyes, she placed her hand on the top of his head and smiled. 'I don't know what happened at the Winter Cup, but I have a feeling that whatever _did_ happen was out of your control...,' her eyes softened against their own will, 'so it's okay if the team lost. That only means there's room for improvement. It only means you're human, and that's what I really wanted to tell you.'

She was greatly surprised at how... _Obedient _the Akashi looked sitting beside her on the bench as he somehow allowed her to keep her hand on his head. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. She couldn't read him and this in turn only made her feel even more mortified if her current situation would even allow it considering how hot her cheeks felt.

_Inside my head_

_A white summer field_

_Has become._

_- Tokaya Shoshu_

Ah, the girl's incredible height of disobedience. It kindled a viciously rapid growing flame within him, and the fact that she touched him so carelessly was not an action he would so easily tolerate on any other occasion, and yet... Yet for some reason - this time - he felt as if her words shifted a heavy weight within him slightly. He wasn't entirely sure of the details, but he didn't quite care for the anomaly.

'I've decided,' he mumbled, removing her hand from the top of his head.

'Hm?' Shinako's eyebrows rose. 'Seijuro, did you say something...?'

'_Shin-chan_...!' a voice boomed from the other side of the court, and Shinako instantly felt a shiver travel down the length of her spine.

She whipped her head around quickly to find the tall, dark haired senior she was quite sure was absent from the court up until now... And beside him was Kotaro, who rubbed the back of his head absent-mindedly and gave a nonchalant expression, making it rather obvious that he didn't in fact want to be there.

'Mibuchi...? Hayama?' she mumbled, greatly confused as Reo walked towards her on the bench, looking as if he were in a hurry of sorts.

She leaned back instinctively with the closer he'd gotten, however he stopped a foot away from the bench and noticeably, his eyebrows upturned.

'_Eh_?' he drawled, frowning with concern. 'Shin-chan, what happened to you this time? Ah... Your ankle again?'

She felt incredibly self-conscious suddenly as she shifted beneath both Reo's and Kotaro's searching gaze. She was surprised at how comfortable she'd been only moments ago, and even now, couldn't fathom how on earth it was possible for her to feel so at ease... Ah, the red haired boy and his mysterious ways!

'I'm fine, Mibuchi. This is nothing...,' she paused. 'By the way, what are the two of you doing here?'

Kotaro huffed, stretching his arms over his head lazily. 'Well, Reo-nee's girly parts were tingling-' '_hey_!' '-and usually whenever that happens, it means there's _some_thing going down.'

Shinako stared blankly at the two of them, quite sure that Kotaro's little explanation about Reo's feminine intuition was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard... Then again, she somehow found herself believing his words. It sounded incredibly _Reo-like_.

'Oh...' she couldn't exactly find the appropriate words to respond.

'Well, Sei-chan's here, so I guess I can rest assured, ne?'

If only he knew what horrifying event happened just moments ago... 'Reo,' Akashi's voice startled her, 'here. Carry Shinako's things for her.'

Reo blinked a few times at the two on the bench before smiling again. Shinako was certain she saw a glint of amusement in his eyes, and was quite sure Kotaro had on a similar air of mischief. She felt incredibly embarrassed suddenly by even the thought of them putting two and two together of their positions beside one another on the bench, however the moment she was about to comment on this, Akashi's cool voice interrupted her thoughts.

'The two of you wait outside,' he turned to face her on the bench. 'Shinako, hold onto me.'

He made it sound more of a statement than a command as he got up from the other end of the bench.

She wasn't entirely sure how to respond to his request, and simply stared at him dumbfounded as he moved to stand in front of her. She felt quite silly sitting there without knowing what to do exactly, and as if he'd read her thoughts in that instant, he reached for her hands.

She was surprised at his cool grasp as his fingers tenderly squeezed her own. He goaded her to her feet gently by simply tugging her forward, and despite the panic that rose within her chest by the sudden action, she somehow felt at ease... She was certain it was the boy's touch. There was undeniably something about their physical contact that anesthetized her chaotic heart in times like these.

However the moment she felt the boy's hand curve comfortably against the shape of her waist, she stifled the sound of surprise that started at the base of her throat.

'S-Seijuro, what are you...' and yet she couldn't complete her sentence when she took notice of the smile that spread on his lips.

'You don't understand me at all, Shinako,' he said, and this statement stirred an odd combination of heat and discomfort in her.

_You make it so difficult for me as it is, red haired Akashi._

'You have no rights and options,' he stated crisply, tugging her forward again as she clutched onto him desperately for support. 'I didn't ask for your concern either. Save your pity for the weak. Spew anymore of that nonsense and I'm going to make you regret it.'

It was amazing, how many emotions the boy honestly stirred in her at times like these. She didn't know whether to be upset or content. She didn't know whether to be vexed by his riddling speech or to simply brush off his words. All she knew was that she felt horribly confused, slightly humiliated, warm, in considerable physical discomfort, and somewhat... _Triumphant_.

Perhaps - somewhere incredibly deep down - the boy felt grateful for her words and this was his only way of showing it... Besides, the thought behind his response was only her assumption after all. She knew nothing about the mechanics of the Akashi's mind. In fact, she felt quite comfortable knowing so little anyway.

However all she was certain of was that she didn't mind his little threat. She only enjoyed their proximity. His steady breaths she managed to listen to attentively as they walked. His assuring grasp... These small, peculiar details about the boy that washed away her uncertainty so easily.

Oh, and the fact that she was in desperate need of a can of energy drink.


	24. Chapter 24

'Shin-a-_ko_~!' Natsume chirped, skipping into the classroom as she flitted behind her a white sheet.

Shinako didn't respond to her friend's merry outburst, and instead, simply ignored her cries of elation as she jumped excitedly in front of her desk. 'Shin-chan, I passed! With flying colours!'

Shinako harrumphed. 'Congratulations...,' she paused. 'I suppose.'

Natsume gripped the front of her own shirt and gasped dramatically. 'Shin-chan, _ugh_! As usual, so cold! You're a b~ig tsun-tsun-_tsundere_ like another Shin-chan I know!'

She brushed off Natsume's comment and lifted herself from her desk. She walked down the corridors thoughtfully, taking in the image of the aging sakura tree as it stood dormant at the front of the school. It was already their third year, and today was the graduation ceremony. Shinako had scored a 100% grade aggregate… Not without some difficulty of course. Her studying sessions were brutal, consisting of can after can of energy drink despite Akashi's motherly tendencies to want to get rid of the damned things.

Of course her threats however were nothing in comparison to his. Not to mention the awful lot of punishment she had to endure whenever she refused to listen to him, but these oddities about the boy was what eventually bonded them ever since the incident in the snow on the bridge when she'd first realized how deeply she had honestly fallen for him.

Even thinking about that night made her body go up a few degrees. Akashi was not a person fond of showing affection. He hadn't always treated her the best, but she grew to understand his strange personality. Yet he still remained unpredictable as ever. Despite how often she would attempt voicing his thoughts on particular occasions, none of her words ever got much of an honest reaction out of him.

Not to mention ever since the incident last year when she'd hit him with her shoe that day in the court to bring his psychosis down a few notches, the first years had seemed to take a inexplicable liking to her… which of course, she was incredibly certain the red haired boy secretly did not approve of considering how fleeting her conversations with the boys throughout the following year's were. Instead, the group of boys she was certain harboured dislike towards her from the very beginning had expressed their genuine admiration for her on February the 14th with cards commending her bravery…

Of course at the time she hadn't thought much of it. However she did feel a slight sense of pride. Just for an instant… only slightly though. Besides, the year had been rather devoid of excitement for her due to the lack of her 3 graduated sempais.

* * *

It was the early end of the school day when Shinako made her way towards the school gates. She hadn't seen the red haired boy throughout the last day and wondered where he possibly was from time to time. As she walked home, she made it a point to walk past the convenience store on her way… however her attempt was to no avail. He was still nowhere to be found.

She pushed aside her concern and on arriving home, lazed in her room for the duration of the afternoon where she patiently called upon Zen-like immediacy. She hadn't ever imagined that without her studies she would feel so lost. She glanced at her cell phone; it was just past 16.00. She typed a new message:

'_Ugly yokai_'

And happy with how original it sounded, sent the text to the redhead.

She hadn't expected a reply, and satisfied by how right she was, walked into the living room. She was about to busy herself with preparing some dinner when there was a knock on the front door. She abandoned the meal she started on, dusted her hands against her thighs, and slid open the door to find the Akashi on her doorstep.

'We're leaving.' he stated, and Shinako could only manage to stare at him blankly.

'... Excuse me?'

'Do not make me repeat myself.'

'You're being incredibly vague, Seijuro. I'm not moving from this spot until you explain to me what's going on.'

His eyes narrowed and she was certain she was once again stepping on his toes. Not that she cared anyway. She put her life on the line a lot for the past year being in the boy's company. Instead of speaking however, Akashi simply grabbed Shinako's wrist as he pulled her along, stumbling behind him.

'S-Seijuro, what do you think you're doing...' she could barely even complete her sentence as he shoved her into the back seat of a luxury car.

Shinako was completely stunned. She sat in the seat taken aback by what happened just moments ago and stared bug-eyed at the how... Well... _Vast_ the vehicle's interior was. She never imagined cars could be so big on the inside. Not to mention the Akashi was apparently from a rich family of some sorts… then again, his home was after all a wooden mansion bordering between traditional and modernist extremes. Not to mention he owned his own horses!

She gave herself a few mental slaps and turned for the door handles. They were locked. She then directed her attention to the driver. 'Please open the doors.'

Akashi appeared at this point and she glared at him as he entered the car and plunked into the seat beside her. She was so confused and upset with him that she actually lost all drive to escape the vehicle. 'I demand answers.'

Akashi stared at her blankly. 'You have no right to demand.'

She didn't know how long she would put up with the boy's ridiculous _I-am-your-emperor _attitude. The moment those words escaped his mouth in that unmistakable superior tone of his, she was tempted to stick his head out the car window when the vehicle began to move. Instead she sat back in her seat; sullen the entire way; wondering just what on earth the redhead was planning.

They had been driving for over thirty minutes when Shinako couldn't help but panic. She had no idea what the Akashi was planning. She knew nothing of where he would be taking her, and was bordering on unnoticeable hyperventilation when she realized she was dressed in nothing appropriate for even simply leaving the house. She felt awfully uncomfortable in her powder blue Hello Kitty long sleeved t-shirt and pants... Not to mention the pink bunny-eared slippers she was wearing! Ah, the humiliation!

As if on cue, she could feel Akashi's eyes on her as she shifted uncomfortably in the car seat. He watched her squirm awkwardly as she folded her arms over her chest to hide the print on the ridiculous t-shirt she was wearing, but he knew that after tonight she'd forgive him for this. In return he smiled, and once again amused himself by noting how she scowled and pouted at him all at once.

The car stopped and Shinako dreaded getting out. She couldn't make out her surroundings, and the fact that she was unable to discern her environment alarmed her. They could have been somewhere important and here she was, about ready to be criticised by _God_-knows-how-many people.

But the doors clicked open and Shinako instantly felt Akashi's warmth as he pressed his body against hers in the car. He held her hand, squeezed on it in that tight but assuring way and her rage for him from earlier instantly melted as if it were nothing to begin with.

He stretched over her and opened the car door, manoeuvring around her seated position and exited the car. He angled his body, outstretched his hand and he smiled. The smile that made her heart race a mile a minute.

She wondered how Akashi had that ability to simply convince her to do things she on any other occasion would never even think of doing. Not to mention in public! But his warm touch combined with that tender expression of his was like an anaesthetic to her boisterous conscience.

'Seijuro,' she called, putting her arms up on either side of the doorframe to the large room he brought her to, 'just what are you planning? Why did you bring me here? Where are we? I didn't know you were some important millionaire of sorts. What's in those bags? I need clothes.'

As usual her surprise didn't faze Akashi. Instead he inspected the bags and made motions to them with his single pointed finger. 'Be ready in 15 minutes. We're going out. Your things are in this bag.'

And as usual he didn't give her the kind of detailed explanations she sought. He walked towards her with the intention of leaving the room, but Shinako refused to budge; her body forming as a barrier between Akashi and the door. 'I'm upset. I'm going to take a bus and leave because you're not answering my questions.'

He smirked and she tensed at his sudden show of expression. 'You wouldn't do that.'

She frowned. Her eyes hard. 'You don't know that.'

'I know everything.'

'Seijuro…,' she sighed. 'Please; I am confused and I really want to know what's going on. I don't even know where I am. I'm seriously going to leave if you don't tell me why I'm even here.'

He took a step closer and Shinako had to bite her gum to keep herself from moving back. 'It's a surprise,' he said, pulling her against him as he made a 90 degree turn and walked off down the hotel hallway.

Shinako watched him greatly confused as his back disappeared when he rounded a corner, and on realizing just what situation she was in, panicked once more. Ah, the boy and his vexing ability to keep her in suspense…!

* * *

After rummaging through the contents of the bag, Shinako was greatly surprised to find her personal belongings within it. There were articles of clothing from her wardrobe at home stuffed into the medium-sized bag, and for a moment she wondered how he managed to pull something like sneaking into her house off... Oh well. She wasn't at home for half a day this morning, so... Did that mean he missed the last day of school to ransack her wardrobe?

The images of him even looking through her clothes was hilarious as she got out of the car. She put her hands through her pockets and pulled out the single long piece of yellow paper - it was a ticket to a basketball match. The whole ordeal amused her greatly, and if she weren't in a place that was so packed with people, she may have honestly laughed herself to death.

She took her seat which was not so surprisingly in the very front row of the stands, and wondered where Akashi was. Considering how full of surprises this evening was already, she didn't know what to expect. There were so many possibilities that all she could do was brace herself for the beginning of a string of them.

There was an announcement that Shinako didn't give much attention to, and directed her attention to the court instead where a line of considerably tall men dressed in basketball attire entered. They all seemed pretty ordinary-looking compared to the redhead that immediately caught her eye. She unconsciously felt the sides of her mouth lift on seeing Akashi, and now that she thought about it, this would be her first time actually watching him play in an official match... Perhaps now was the time when she could finally pair his praised skill with ocular proof of it, considering he always seemed so laid back about these sorts of events.

And indeed the Akashi was skilled. She was watching the match so intently, paying close attention to every movement he made on the court that she didn't even notice how full the stands were. She didn't want to admit it, but every single move he made during gameplay was like a practiced art. He seemed incredibly at ease in the environment, and how simple he seemed from this distance amazed her.

It was after the match when Shinako had been found by him. She was standing outside in the cold for a good few minutes, unsure of where to meet with him again, but he had instead approached her.

'Seijuro, that was fun. Thank you for the ticket.' she said, blowing into her hands as he appeared dressed out of his uniform and in a casual shirt and slacks.

He stared at her for a long moment in acknowledgment. As predicted she wore the dark blue pair of jeans. They fitted her expertly, showing off the nice shape of her fairly long legs, and he couldn't help but outstretch his arm as he snaked his hand around her waist and pulled her beside him.

They walked wordlessly after Shinako had completed her short series of protests and questions, and arrived at the large red gate to the temple. They walked to the top and he watched as Shinako stepped forward towards the shrine, clapped her hands together and concentrated. Her slow breathing. Her red lashes as they clumped together. Her lips moving in slow motion... And as predicted, she wore the black jacket.

'Shinako,' he said the moment she completed her silent prayer.

She turned around slowly and stared at him with that blank expression of hers. Her red hair in the dim light glowed. 'You will be my wife.'

His statement - as expected - hadn't even gotten a flinch out of the Ashikaga. She continued to stare at him blankly, and after a few silent seconds, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. _'What_...?'

His eyes were hard. 'Do you enjoy me saying things to you over and over again?'

She was unsure of the Akashi's capabilities when he was angry. Even after all this time knowing him, she couldn't be certain if perhaps he carried an unsuspecting pair of scissors in his back pocket. 'You're asking me to marry you?'

'No,' he stepped closer toward her, 'I am _telling_ you that we will be wed.'

The absolute _blatancy_! She was certain his words would have killed her if it weren't for the cold wind that suddenly blew past that shook her out of her reverie. 'But... We... We're so...' he cut her off by placing a finger over her lips.

He traced them with his fingertips, gradually cupping her chin as he leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. He took in how her tensed shoulders immediately dropped the moment their lips touched. How her eyebrows would upturn. How her soul would so simply pour out against him with every touch he offered her.

'I'm leaving...,' he mumbled, stroking the fairly long tail of hair over her right shoulder.

Shinako breathed heavily. She placed her hands against his chest and stood as close to him as she possibly could.

'You always leave...' she whispered with some difficulty.

His body heat was infectious. Heat waves radiated off every pulse that coursed through his body as they stood together beneath the falling snow.

'Wait for me, Shinako.'

_Red, red,_

_The heartless sun, yet_

_Autumn wind._

_- Matsuo Basho_


	25. Chapter 25

_3 years later_

She scrolled through the day's messages as she walked briskly down the glass hallway of the office building. It was an ordinary day for Ashikaga Shinako as she walked down the isle of desk computers to her office which was a fairly large room occupied by books.

Paperbacks piled in the dozens on her work desk and in the pigeon holes of her office walls. There was simply never enough space for books. Not even her new house could put up with the excessive amount of novels she kept stashed into every nook and cranny she could possibly find.

'Ashikaga-san,' the door creaked open, and Shinako raised her head.

'Yes?'

'Have you signed the contract? Your signature's the seal to the deal.'

'Oh...,' she took one glance at the scattered papers on her desk and her eyes moved to the stack of books left, right, and center. 'I'll look for it and get back to you.'

The guy smiled genuinely. 'Ah, it's no problem, vice. I'll come back later.'

This was the usual case for the past week ever since she'd received the damned paper. She knew it wouldn't last long within the confines of her office, and how correct she was indeed! The A4 page had been devoured by her ceiling-high mountain of books. She sighed as she observed the lot of piled novels and moved to the shogi board at the center of her work desk.

Playing the game would usually ease her mind, and when she was calm, often things she had forgotten easily would come back to her. The game honestly had this strange effect on her memory, and she wasn't sure why. The president had signed the document to take over the neighboring office building, and the time something this important actually came up, she could not for the life of her recall where she mislaid the darn page.

Later into the day she had retreated to the conference room where the monthly company meeting would take place. As usual she had made it a point to take down the details of the meetings in lengthy notes, and contributed to the gathering at some points to correct her juniors as they presented their future plans for the company.

It may have not looked like it, but Ashikaga Shinako was in fact the vice president of a relatively large accounting firm. Ever since that day in the snow when he left, she was suddenly directionless. There were so many awaiting opportunities. There were just so many doors presented to her that with his absence, she only then realized she had to move on. She couldn't believe she was actually that foolish to take his words so literally.

_Wait for him? Ridiculous, absurd, despicable, ugly yokai_.

For the first week without any contact from the man whatsoever, she couldn't help but feel completely disheartened. She knew she shouldn't have fallen so hard for him... But it happened. And she had no control over her feelings whatsoever. Waiting for him though had been a ludicrous thought. Instead of lazing around with an amazing grade aggregate in her hands, she had closed the book on that chapter of her life and gotten into an excellent college.

From there she had in turn worked part-time jobs and eventually wound up in a bigger business where her natural talent for numbers and notes were greatly recognized. In turn, her hard work and perseverance had earned her the title of second-in-charge to the large, bustling accounting firm.

She was honestly happy. She was glad she had a secure job she at most times enjoyed, and yet somehow she felt her life was... _Lacking_. It was far too predictable. Her days were too mediocre. Her words were too controlled. Her voice was far too tempered. She was too polite; too honest; too well-behaved... And it bothered her when in fact if she'd never met the red-haired boy in her life before, she would be content with her success.

And yet she was not.

'_Wait for me_.'

The words often played in her head like a broken record. However each word of his was so clearly articulated, she sometimes felt as if she were constantly in that never-ending situation. The falling snow. His ruby hair in the dim light. His cold touch against her burning skin... _I still can't forget these kinds of things... What am I, a kid?_

Being with him had almost seemed like a dream. Even now she wondered how on earth he was even possible. That boy with red hair and heterochromatic eyes. That boy who was dangerous with a pair of scissors, unpredictable at all times, and intimidating when you stared him straight in the eyes... That boy who captured her heart; that boy who was such a beautiful disaster.

'Shin-chan, it's so cold...!' Natsume shuddered dramatically as she walked beside her red-haired friend up the countless steps to the shrine at the top.

Shinako clutched the front of her scarf and harrumphed in response. 'Natsume, your complaining over the years hasn't eased up one bit.'

Natsume pouted. _'Hah_! Don't talk about me like that, when you're still _tsundere_-chan yourself!'

They reached the top of the stone staircase. Natsume was dressed in a large salmon pink coat (which Shinako said was an embarrassing thing to wear in public), and Shinako chose a much simpler route, wearing a gray cardigan, a woollen scarf, and a pair of boots with black jeans.

They clapped their hands together in unison and closed their eyes. An amazing stillness enveloped Shinako as she concentrated hard on her thoughts, spilling out all the contents of her heart she managed to file away for the past year. She hoped for a better new year and prayed for good health, and hoping she perhaps wasn't asking for too much, added in the little bit about the red-haired boy... That boy... What was his name again? It definitely started with an S. She frowned, concentrating incredibly hard on remembering the boy's name, but another minute passed silently, and still, she couldn't recall what she'd called him back then.

'Sei...' she mumbled thoughtlessly, and turned around.

Natsume was nowhere to be found. She found this odd at first and glanced at her watch. It was still rather early in the evening, and she didn't exactly have any plans for the night. As usual all she'd return to her apartment to would be a TV and energy drinks. Ah, not to mention the dreaded task of looking for that single A4 document! She now dreaded returning home.

She took a step forward toward the top of the long staircase and stopped just as quickly when she noticed a familiar colour from the side of her eye. She glanced in the direction of it but saw nothing. She squinted, hoping she could see further into the distance by narrowing her eyes, but jumped at the sound of someone calling her name.

'Shin-chan, I'm _hungry_~!' Natsume cried from the bottom of the staircase, and she stared blankly at the girl as she protested.

'I'm coming...' she mumbled, fluttering down the steep number of steps as they left off.

* * *

It was an hour later when Shinako returned home after a night out with Natsume. She was still the same from high school. Not a bit of the girl changed except for perhaps her hair style, which she practically adjusted as often as her wardrobe. She was incredibly fashion-conscious, and if Shinako recalled correctly, was in the said industry... Make-up artistry, was it? However it was incredibly easy to mistake the girl for instead being a talk show host that featured single men and women, and ridiculously bringing them together on blind dates considering the many awful things she'd put Shinako through during this time. She would often complain during the past 3 years about how '_sad'_ and '_lonely' _her best friend looked, and immediately placed her friend's sorrows into the _it's-because-you're-single_ box... Did she honestly look that hopeless on the outside just because her life lacked in the more romantic factions?

She kicked off her boots, closed the door behind her as it latched shut, and moved to twist open the bottle of fish flakes. She spread a good layer of it over the surface of the water and watched as the goldfish (whom she named Ichi, derived from Eikichi and whatever she remembered of the boy's ridiculous appetite) took in huge amounts of the stuff and then continued to be merry.

She moved to the open-plan dining room and removed her scarf. It was surprisingly warm in the apartment as she moved to dress out of her cardigan and then her shirt. She stopped mid-strip however when she noticed something on the short dining table.

She walked towards it, certain she hadn't left anything there earlier in the day, and on further inspection, found herself staring at the document with her signature on it. She stared at it for a moment longer blankly. Her fingers were still under her shirt on either side just above her waist, and she couldn't bring herself to move them over her head because of how puzzling this really was.

She scrolled through the document with her eyes and mentally pointed out the company president's signature. Beside it was hers, and beside hers was... A signature with an incredible amount of convoluted lines and strokes. It looked almost like a carefully planned artwork above the printed space provided.

She ignored the foreign handwriting and turned her attention to the object beside it. It was a long piece of wood. She couldn't understand what all this had possibly meant or where it came from, and she lifted the wooden plate. Her eyes went over the neatly scripted words at the front in black ink:

_In the silence of the snow,_

_Frost on the chrysanthemums_

_Melts and melts,_

_And accumulates again_

_As the peahen waits_

_With melting eyes._

It was almost like an epiphany. She stepped back from the desk, still frowning deeply as she stared at the words on the wooden placard and a pleasant sound followed thereafter. She looked down immediately at the soft sound and knelt as she reached into the darkness beneath the table. She felt for the object and stood up, held it beneath the dim light, and her heart squeezed.

It was a silver ring that at the top sat a medium-sized diamond. She stared at it between her fingers and panicked. She had no idea what was possibly going on, and instead wracked her brain for perhaps some memories she was missing.

And then it hit her despite the chaos her mind was in. The bookmark. The two haikus. The boy...

'Seijuro...' the name escaped her lips thoughtlessly, and followed by the momentary silence, she felt a pair of strong arms around her waist.

There was no mistaking the smell of his perfume. The bright colour of his hair that she managed to see with her peripheral vision. The assuring, unwavering touches he offered her, and his even breaths...

'Good girl,' he whispered, and she shuddered as his lips touched the side of her neck.

She hadn't imagined she would react to his touch. She waited for the day she would see him again so that she could once more strike him in the face or toss her shoe at his head; to tell him how insensitive he was, how he completely disregarded her overflowing feelings, but suddenly here he was. And in his presence, she couldn't help but disregard the rage for him that over those 3 years piled up.

She _wanted _to be angry. She _wanted_ to be upset with him, and yet the only thing she could feel was an incredible frustration due to how easily the boy - or _man_ in this case - manipulated her feelings for him.

He turned her around in his arms and took the ring from her hand. She watched him as he fit it on her ring finger; how strong and healthy he looked despite how little his height really adjusted.

'How did you know where I live?' she asked; her voice a whisper in the quiet room.

Akashi smiled. The expression even after all this time still made her heart flutter uncomfortably in her chest, and the fact that she suddenly felt giddy by just being in his presence even _3 years_ after his sudden disappearance pained her.

_Please. I don't want to feel like this._

'I know everything.'

'No, I don't think you do, Seijuro…,' she frowned. 'If you did, you would have never left me on such ridiculous terms in the first place.

'If you did, you would know that I'm currently very upset and… and I simply want you to _get out_.'

_Don't make me feel these things again._

He didn't respond. In fact, he didn't have to. His multi-coloured eyes spoke a thousand words instead. They flared silently in a way she was certain she was never before witness to, and it struck a strange combination of familiarity and fear within her.

'I'm only going to say this to you once, Ashikaga Shinako...,' he said; his voice crisp. 'I have no need for love. I have no need for such petty emotions. I've simply come to collect what's rightfully mine...' a thin smile formed easily on his lips.

'I've come to collect _you_, because you are _mine_.'

Shinako's frown deepened. She wantedto be furious at him. She _wanted_ to lash out somehow, however just the simple realization that the man did in fact actually keep his word and that she actually _waited_ for him all this time settled a warm feeling in her. Her knees felt weak. Her eyebrows furrowed, and as much as she fought back the piling feelings from overflowing, her eyes softened with brimming tears.

'You really are an ugly yokai...' she hissed, however he didn't allow her the chance to muster anymore of that bubbling anger.

He grabbed her by the chin and she winced. Their faces were only inches apart, and she could feel his breath on her lips as he breathed steadily. 'That tongue of yours...,' he mumbled, parting her lips with his own, 'I'm going to bite it out, Shinako.'

_As I love you with such depth_

_I don't know how to tell you how I feel now_

_Just like powdery snow gently, gently comes on_

_My love for you piles up a lot and it melts on my palms._

* * *

**_A/N_**_: Hello, minna-san! ^.^ Gosh, it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm glad I've gotten the chance to update again, and my apologies for how long it took me really to get this up. A lot of thought has went into this chapter, yet I'm quite glad with the outcome. :) This, however, is not yet the end... I'm still going to post an epilogue, so I hope you guys can wait patiently for that~! :3_

_Also, the last few sentences there in Italics are in fact lyrics to a song I found incredibly fitting of this story as a whole. It's titled 'Powdery Snow', and it's a Vocaloid duet with Gakupo and Luka. So check it out, guys!_


	26. Chapter 26

She gnawed on her lip, rolling the cool can against the shape of her palm as she held her cell phone pressed against her ear. She stared at the ridiculous array of colours on the wide, awfully cluttered clothing rack, and could already feel the stress of just the sight plume out of her ears like steam.

'_White_. It simply _has_ to be white…,' she mumbled thoughtlessly with wide eyes as the store assistant pushed away articles of clothing one by one tediously.

A strange grumbling noise sounded from the other end of the receiver. 'I'm sorry to say this Shin-chan, but white doesn't quite…' she paused as if carefully picking her words. 'It just doesn't _suit you_.'

Shinako stared blankly at the pure white dress the assistant pulled out from within the confines of the large rack in deep thought. 'Natsume…'

'… Yeah?'

'If you're going to constantly going to have a problem with my taste in colour…'

'Then I suggest you _get out_.'

Shinako's expression immediately soured at the blonde girl's ability to cut her off at the most crucial point in her threats, but nevertheless didn't quite mind this point about Natsume. 'Eep, Shin-chan, I'm sorry! You know I meant that in the best possible way~.'

For some reason, Natsume's tone at that point gave the redhead a ridiculous image of the girl smiling widely and winking at her through the receiver with an index finger on her chin… it somehow seemed so incredibly fitting of her that Shinako worried for her subconscious.

'… Well…,' she started, dismissing the large pearl-coloured dress in the store clerk's arms. 'I'm hanging up, Natsume.'

She didn't give the blonde a chance to respond to her statement and simply flipped her phone shut. Five minutes were simply enough talking to Natsume on the phone, but _fifteen_? Shinako was certain she lost a bit of her sanity during those hour-long minutes of listening to the girl chatter on about which colours on the colour chart suited her best.

She _was_ the one who certainly contacted Natsume for help on picking the perfect dress, and even though she knew the girl incredibly well for her ability to chew ears off about anything to do with fashion or the like, Shinako trusted her judgment.

_But… anything apart from white?_ It was slightly devastating news… only slightly though.

Shinako had returned home that mid afternoon and immediately began work. She knew the evening would require a lot more effort than the others she'd prepared for, considering it was after all a very special occasion.

She smiled just at the thought as she pulled off the scarf from around her neck and opened the new unread message on her phone. It was from her grandfather:

_The first snow_

_The leaves of the daffodil_

_Bending together._

- _Matsuo Basho_

It was an hour after the allotted time for dinner when Shinako glanced at the large analogue clock above the other end of the dining table.

The house was quiet. All she could hear was the light patter of the rain from outside as she took a look at her phone and redialed his number for the umpteenth time. Just where on earth _was_ the man?

If Shinako recalled correctly, he'd definitely announced his goodbye with a firm air of return… or at least she hoped that wasn't just her imagination. It wasn't exactly an odd thing that he travelled often, considering ever since he had appeared that night a year ago in her apartment, he'd been a particularly busy man; apparently running some large business as well as being one of the country's star basketball players. She couldn't quite place her certainty anywhere because of how often he really dismissed the subject with his either incredibly descriptive description or simplistic statement of an answer.

Being with the man was slightly difficult… only slightly, though, considering the time she'd had with him was in fact what she enjoyed the most.

It was odd. The man was odd. But nevertheless, she enjoyed his presence to no end. The Akashi was simply this individual that from the beginning, she could not read. Even now that he was once again within her reach, she wasn't entirely sure of his character as a whole. It was a painful thing to endure; knowing you're married to a man you barely know and yet unconditionally, painfully love, that is.

She sighed at the monotonous message that played through the receiver that stated once again that his number was either engaged or his phone was turned off, and retired to the living room.

She was incredibly certain his flight was scheduled to have landed two hours ago. Where could he have possibly been? She assumed that perhaps the flight had been delayed or so, but the gnawing doubt at the back of her mind told her otherwise…

What if he had left again? What if he would only come back this time after more than 3 years? Would he even come back at all? The thoughts panicked her for a moment. Even though it seemed like it, he wasn't exactly a heartless man… then again, every time he so as mentioned the word '_leave_', her heart would go off a mile a minute.

Perhaps that day in the snow was the trigger for some sort of personal paranoia?

These crazy thoughts raced through her mind as she turned on her side against the sofa and pressed her cheek on a scatter cushion. She was exhausted, running around like a mad woman almost the entire day shopping for dinner goods and looking for the perfect dress for tonight (which she eventually settled for a medium gray silk one). At first when she'd put it on and stared at herself in the bedroom mirror, she couldn't help but feel incredibly self conscious, because the dress actually made everything about her stand out. Her hair, her eyes; even her skin!

She had felt relatively excited about tonight, but noting that perhaps the Akashi wouldn't after all turn up, felt nothing but a crumbling disappointment. She knew he was no good for her… that he was this tainted individual, and yet she simply could not stay away from the little things about him that amounted to the most delectable points about the man.

His every touch; his unreadable, multi-coloured eyes; his bright red hair in the darkness that glowed as if it were beneath the dim light of setting sun; and his kisses… even the thought made her cheeks warm.

_You're no good for me, Seijuro…_

The front door opened, and as if on cue her heart fluttered as if she were suddenly standing on the precipice of a waterfall. She shot up from the couch and bulleted for the door as it opened, allowing a cold gust of wind that hit her bare legs first. The dress she wore flittered above her knees in organized ruffles, and even though the icy chill was close to unbearable in the outfit, she couldn't quite care less considering the sight that greeted her.

'_Tadaima_,' he announced, blinking coolly as he had a hand pressed flatly against the front door.

Shinako stared at him for a moment longer before responding. 'You're late…,' she mumbled, and shortly after he entered the house, whispered '_okairi_.'

He stood beneath the doorframe to the living room and undid the scarf from around his neck, and as he did, took great notice of the dining room table a little further away from him on his left. It was set quite nicely with a plate on either end and in the center, a shallow vase that accommodated red and yellow chrysanthemums.

He definitely expected something of the sort. 'How was your trip?' she questioned as she closed the front door with two hands.

He knew Shinako far too well to have _not_ planned anything for his arrival, and a strange feeling bubbled within him, however he overlooked it the moment he turned slightly to address her.

'Shinako…,' he started, outstretching a hand towards her. 'Come here.'

He watched her as she cautiously stared at his hand for a moment, but nevertheless, took it. He pulled her a little closer before swinging an arm beneath her thighs, and she squeaked a reaction before grabbing onto the collar of his shirt for dear life.

'The trip had cost me the bother of dealing with human incompetence,' he explained briefly as he carried her in his arms into the living room. 'It was unnecessary and cumbersome.'

Shinako stared at him blankly (on regaining her cool) as he sat on one of the smaller cream couches in the lounge, and placed her nicely on a single thigh like a child. 'Seijuro, I don't think I'm following.'

'My luggage was misplaced.'

Shinako's eyes widened. 'Is that why you're so late?'

He didn't respond to her question. Instead, he was slightly pre-occupied with taking in every inch of the red haired woman clad in a dark gray silk dress that came across as an incredibly tempting thing to want to just rip off of her.

Ah, and if only she'd known the lengths he'd gone to retrieve the missing luggage! It had taken over an hour for him to once more reunite with the bag he had something particularly special in, however he knew it would be a taxing thing to explain to her right now.

'Oh, Seijuro, close your eyes.'

He stared at her for a moment and watched as a small smile formed on her lips. He didn't like surprises or anything of the like that robbed him of his vision, and even though it would be no problem for him to simply not do what she said, he was somehow in the mood to entertain her.

He felt her hands wrap around his fingers gently as she upturned his palm and within it, placed a cool object. He opened his eyes once more and smiled down at the red crystal chess piece, tracing the tip of his forefinger along the outline of the king's crown.

Shinako watched with delight as he quietly admired the piece, and slowly, he reached into his back pocket. She blinked curiously at the black box as he opened it, revealing exactly the same crystal red chess piece she'd given him, only that it was a queen.

She grinned. Perhaps having a husband who can practically see even the smallest of details into the future wasn't at all that bad… at least she wouldn't have to worry about them matching clothes at events or even having difficulty naming their kids when they decide to have some.

'Happy anniversary…,' she whispered, still smiling like a thrilled child in front of a dozen birthday presents.

Oh well. She couldn't help it. The man simply did these sorts of things to her she on any other occasion would never allow.

He stared at her for a moment in acknowledgment of her words, however she knew him far too well to actually expect a verbal response out of him. It simply wasn't like the Akashi to issue any sort of congratulations… and yet she didn't mind that part about him. She was simply content with the fact that he'd returned home. That he didn't leave her again like she thought he would with all the other trips he'd taken relentlessly throughout the year… and that she actually managed to survive a year of being married to the Akashi of all people.

_You really are no good for me, Seijuro… but I want you more than anything in my life._

She was so consumed in her long train of thoughts that she didn't have enough time to react to the powerful grip he'd suddenly had on her wrists. He yanked her forward into his lap and snaked his arms around her waist, gently removing a single strap of her dress as it fell beside her shoulder.

He leaned forward, pressed his lips against the front of her throat, and eventually massaged her neck with his tongue comfortably. She wasn't entirely sure when she'd ever get used to this sort of incredible attention he gave her. Even though they'd been together for an entire year of marriage, his touches still made butterflies take flight within her belly.

'No, Seijuro, dinner first…' she mumbled with some difficulty, trying to keep herself composed, however he distracted her suddenly as his teeth grazed the soft skin of her neck.

His eyes were unmoving; however she was certain she could see a growing ember in them that lit the multi-coloured orbs in a most exquisite way. It was an incredibly rare spectacle considering she would on any other occasion never be able to read him, and yet at this point, she could tell exactly what he was feeling.

'We're not done giving gifts…' he simply stated as a smug smile spread on his lips, and with that, he leaned forward again and muffled his wife's bubbling protests with his lips against her own.

_I need you more than anything in my life, apart from an energy drink a day to deal with you. That even though you're such a beautiful disaster and an ugly yokai, Seijuro; I'd rather not have anything if I can't have _you_. _

* * *

Afterword

You know what? I'll be completely honest with you; beautiful reader; in saying that I had written this entire story with knowledge of Akashi only via Wikipedia (which doesn't exactly provide much, mind me saying).

It was an incredibly tough challenge working with him considering his _awfully_ strange personality, and yet at the same time, I _thoroughly_ enjoyed myself. It isn't often that I get to work with such a complex character, and even though there is so little information about his personality provided, that just posed as an even greater challenge for me: to be able to develop him in a way I would have personally liked to have seen.

And the one '_person_' that helped me do that had to be Ashikaga Shinako. She as well is quite the strange character, and somehow even though she and Akashi are quite different, I managed to bend her personality around his slightly because I know that _change_ and _Akashi_ are two words that will never be in the same dictionary, ha-ha.

One of my reviewers at some point had actually asked me about the peculiar coincidences between characters, for example: Midorima and Shinako both being _Shin-chan_'s as well as sharing the same personality traits; and Natsume and Kise somehow being related to one another (as well as the surnames! Who would have known I**ki**na and **Ki**se both have something to do with the colour yellow?).

I'll be honest; I never even _considered_ those possibilities from the outset of the story! Do you know I actually had the entire thing planned out from chapter one to twelve at some point? The story was in fact supposed to be a lot shorter than what it turned out, with a lot more definitive events, and chapter twelve was supposed to be the final chapter.

However, dear reviewers, boy did you guys help me out _a lot_. If it weren't for your feedback, this story would have not been so popular, and never in a million years would have been in the least successful! I want to extend a huge thank you to all you wonderful people out there that reviewed, followed, and favourited this story because without your support, I would have never even completed it. ^.^

So BEFORE I LEAVE, I want to leave you all with one question…:

Should **my next fan-fiction** victimize our lover boy _Kise Ryouta_ or our incredibly superstitious horoscope maniac _Midorima Shintaro_? Your answer will decide my next work, so please be sure to PM me or drop a review with your answer! ;D

Lots, and lots, and an _awful_ lot of love,

~ damntationSUSHItruck


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